nostalgia, ULTRA
Frank Ocean's groundbreaking debut mixtape, 15 years forward
i vividly remember where i was when a certain hip-hop mogul (and eventual collaborator) mentioned Frank Ocean on his Life+Times blog. search indexing sucks nowadays, so i can’t find the exact post. but i recall reading it with intrigue on my family’s shared laptop while sitting on the living room floor. who in the world was Frank Ocean? what was so ultra about his nostalgia? 15 years later, i am glad that i remained curious enough to pursue the answers to these questions.
released on February 16, 2011 as a mixtape via Tumblr, nostalgia, ULTRA is the collectible of the month. no, i don’t have an official physical copy of this mixtape, but i do have the original downloads. i recently burned them onto a CD in true millennial fashion. it’s only right that i explore my own nostalgia with y’all for this revisit.
i listened to the CD twice while writing this feature, and it made me smile to remember just how good this music is. since i burned the CD myself, any quality issues fall squarely on me. the sole problem i had with the playback was that “nature feels” cuts off abruptly with less than a minute to spare—a minor technical difficulty that occurred while ripping it. before we explore the music itself, let’s get into some context behind who Frank Ocean is and the legend of his debut mixtape’s surprise drop.
in 2005, the singer-songwriter left his adopted hometown of New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. after dropping out of college, he eventually landed in Los Angeles to commit to his music career. by the time nostalgia, ULTRA was unveiled to the world, Ocean had already been working as a ghostwriter known as Lonny Breaux, making hits for pop stars like Justin Bieber and Brandy. signed to Def Jam, he’d been working on a solo album, but didn’t feel that the label was giving his music the attention it deserved (it didn’t help that the samples hadn’t cleared). so what did the then-20-something do? he leaked the music on his personal Tumblr account for free. he didn’t wait around for the powers that be to validate his art.
this was the maneuver of someone who didn’t allow obstacles to stand in his way, who would continually reinvent himself to get closer to his personal truth. for instance: months before the mixtape debuted, he changed his name from Christopher Edwin Breaux to Christopher Francis Ocean. years later, he would officially adopt the stage moniker Frank Ocean as his legal name. how was the surprise drop received at the time? for young music lovers like me, it was a game-changer. the industry also embraced the bold move—i recommend reading about the reactions to nostalgia, ULTRA’s leak from Ocean’s collaborators in the following Complex article, which was published in 2021 to commemorate the mixtape’s 10th anniversary.
READ: The Story of a ‘Super Perfectionist’: How Frank Ocean Made ‘Nostalgia, ULTRA.’
it’s not an exaggeration to say that Ocean is one of the most groundbreaking artists from the millennial generation. previously affiliated with the edgy California rap collective Odd Future, Ocean set himself apart from the pack with his debut mixtape. as his music combines elements of soul, rock, rap, gospel, psychedelia, and more, he’s considered an alt-R&B pioneer. Ocean defined what the genre would become in the 2010s—even though he famously evaded labels (when he dropped nostalgia, ULTRA, he filed it under “bluegrass” for sh*ts and giggles).
the sound design on nostalgia, ULTRA is brilliant, with elements like panning, visceral tape deck changing, clips from TV and video games, and radio tuning throughout its 42-minute run. the mixtape is probably best known for the singles “novacane” and “swim good,” but every song has its own creative merit. “novacane” is a raunchy earworm that comes back to me now and then. due to its medicinal title, i definitely had this song on my playlist during my wisdom teeth surgery!
“All the pretty girls involved with me
Making pretty love to me, pretty
Pity, pity”
both “novacane” and “swim good” represent rare occasions where Ocean accompanied a song with a video. these visuals, plus the one for “Pyramids,” were directed by Nabil. “swim good” carries a heavy theme as the song’s protagonist wrestles with mortality.
“I feel like a ghost (no Swayze!)
ever since I lost my baby”
in lieu of a play-by-play, i’ll proceed by highlighting specific samples and interpolations on nostalgia, ULTRA. majority of the mixtape’s tracks are not available on streaming, so pardon me if the versions i found on YouTube are a little bootleg! my fondness for unconventional font casing is well-established, therefore i will continue to reference the songs in lowercase as Ocean originally intended.
nostalgia, ULTRA: notable samples and references
“strawberry swing”
borrowing from Coldplay’s 2008 song of the same name, “strawberry swing” signifies the first time we hear Ocean’s voice on nostalgia, ULTRA. the intro “street fighter” is very brief, as it introduces the track-changing motif—Ocean trying to find the right frequency and set the tone for all the music we’d experience over the next 40 minutes. as soon as he starts singing, Ocean instantly wins listeners over with his falsetto and imaginative storytelling. the song represents a solemn goodbye to a time gone past. the sample of Chris Martin singing at the end is met with loud alarm clock noises, awakening us from a dream.
“Now the sky could be blue, I don't mind
Without you, it's a waste of time”
“Strawberry Swing” was always my second favorite song on Viva la Vida, right after “Lovers in Japan.” i remember one time in English class during junior year, the teacher mentioned Coldplay as an example of current popular media, and folks kinda shrugged her off as if the namedrop was so uncool. no one wanted to admit they listened to the band. Coldplay was globally successful, yet they had developed an association with being a bit corny.
then, months later, we had an assignment where we had to explain why we had certain items on our nightstand (i don’t recall the literary context for this assignment at all). a classmate showcased the Viva la Vida CD and referenced the moment where the teacher had previously named the band to a tepid response. they said something along the lines of “nobody responded when Ms. [name redacted] mentioned Coldplay, but how many of us liked this album?” a few of us sheepishly raised our hands and nodded.
of course i had the Viva la Vida CD! in fact, i cherished it at the time, and it remains in my collection. i listened to it within the last couple of years, and it’s still pretty entertaining. yet, the contrarian hipster in me was reluctant to acknowledge such things in mixed company. i was voted “Most Original” in high school—i had a reputation to protect (i’m being sarcastic about this last part, but the superlative of it all is true).
Frank Ocean interpolating lyrics from “Strawberry Swing” and sampling the melody validated that part of me who always enjoyed music across genre spectrums and racial lines. it may seem silly now, but for a teenager still figuring out who i was, it meant everything to me. it’s akin to Solange covering “Stillness is the Move” by Dirty Protectors or mentioning “Airplanes” by Local Natives in an interview feature. Black artists have always been expansive in our creative output, so our inspirations and reference points are frequently diverse, too.
“we all try”
documented liner notes don’t credit a sample, but i’d recognize “The Lady in My Life” by Michael Jackson anywhere. although it’s not an official or precise sample, i can only imagine that the song’s melody was adapted and reworked into a similar beat for “we all try.” appearing as the fourth track on the mixtape, “we all try” is a fairly hopeful song, yet it oscillates between optimism and cynicism.
lyrically, Ocean provides examples of what he does and doesn’t believe in. this isn’t someone observing the world and positioning himself as infallible. he recognizes that he’s just as much a part of society as everyone else—even when his faith is shaky, he reasserts his belief in man and the possibility of a brighter future for us all. humanity isn’t all black or all white, all good or all bad. there’s levels to this sh*t.
“I still believe in man
A wise one asked me why
'Cause I just don't believe we're wicked
I know that we sin, but I do believe we try
We all try, the girls try, the boys try
Women try, men try
You and I try, try
We all try”
when Ocean sang “I believe that marriage isn’t between a man and woman but between love and love,” that foreshadowed his eventual coming out. i also remember where i was when he revealed his bisexuality through an open letter on Tumblr. i was navigating similar feelings myself, and eventually i stopped feeling the need to make some grand proclamation about “coming out”—with the prevalence of compulsory heterosexuality in our society, queer people never stop coming out. but i can understand why a public figure on the rise would make such a statement. yet again, he was bold and forthcoming in his self-expression.
“american wedding”
my favorite song on nostalgia, ULTRA is the one that’s steeped in the most controversy. “american wedding” directly samples “Hotel California” by The Eagles. folks of different generations and cultures don’t always appreciate the virtues of sampling, so singer Don Henley was not too fond of his band’s hit song being used that way—he’s disparaged Ocean in interviews more than once.
contrary to any limited beliefs, sampling actually gives me a greater appreciation for the referenced music. sure, proper legal channels should be followed to clear samples and give credit where it’s due, but there’s a reason why Ocean took matters into his own hands and released the mixtape on his own. he didn’t stand to make money from the release directly—touring would be his best bet (i still wish i had seen him perform when he came to my city back then).
eventually, Ocean removed “american wedding” from the release, and most traces of this song have been scrubbed from the Internet. i doubt he wanted to be stuck in a situation similar to the disgraced producer Sean Combs, in which he owed The Eagles every time the song gets played—like how Sting gets paid for Combs ripping off The Police’s “Every Breath You Take” in the song “I’ll Be Missing You,” a sonic tribute to Biggie.
“american wedding” proves that Ocean is not shy about grappling with philosophical dilemmas through his music. he’ll talk about sex, religion, and politics with equal weight. he’ll expose the thoughts that many folks have, but aren’t as brave to verbalize.
“It's an American wedding
They don't mean too much
But we were so in love
We had an American wedding
Now what's mine is yours
That's American law”
“nature feels”
“Electric Feel” by MGMT will go down in history as one of millennials’ greatest contributions to music. white boys just don’t get together and clown around to make debaucherous music quite like that anymore (sn: anybody remember Chester French??). for the closer to his debut mixtape, Ocean took elements from an already sensual song and made it overtly erotic.
starting “nature feels” with the lyric “I’ve been meaning to f**k you in the garden” was ballsy AF. listening almost feels voyeuristic, but this mixtape established that Ocean will say exactly what’s on his mind. whether you pick up what he’s putting down is more reflective of one’s attention span than it is of his intentions. many songs in his discography are sexually-charged spiritual successors to this one—“Pyramids” and “Nikes” instantly come to mind. also, shoutout to the layered vocals from Brandy on “nature feels.” it reminds me of Beyoncé’s vocal contribution to “Pink + White” years later.
the impact
what i appreciate most about the sample-based songs i mentioned (excluding “we all try”) is how Ocean allows the original versions to be heard as his own singing concludes. this ties in the analog song-changing motif and situates him as both the performer and the active listener paying homage to music he enjoys. beyond that, namedrops of musical groups like Jodeci, Radiohead, and Van Halen appear on various tracks.
could Ocean re-release these songs with new accompaniment to avoid the legal trouble? sure, but it might detract from the original versions’ essence and character. often, songs with reworked beat changes just don’t hit the same! “Box of Wheaties” by Quelle Chris and “Bart Simpson” by Princess Nokia are two examples that come to mind.1
industry-wise, Ocean has a lot of musical sons and daughters—too many to name, but if any contemporary musicians easily occur to you, they’re likely on the family tree. he’s now known for being enigmatic and unpredictable, often dropping new music on a whim. in 2012, he followed up nostalgia, ULTRA with an official studio album, Channel Orange. this stunning body of work received widespread fanfare and critical acclaim, with admirers eagerly anticipating what would come next. i will admit that the lead single “Pyramids” captivated me for months, and it took me a bit of time to listen to the full album. when i finally did, i realized i’d been missing out.
more albums wouldn’t arrive until 2016—first, we got Endless on August 19th, a mystifying visual project. a day later, the masterpiece Blonde was released independently, revealing that Endless was a power play to fulfill his contractual obligations to Def Jam. since then, we’ve been blessed with a few singles, Ocean’s show blonded RADIO on Apple Music, and his jewelry line Homer. but the jury’s still out on whether we’ll get any full-length albums from him this decade.
many fans are still clamoring for another release, but my sentiments regarding Frank Ocean mirror how i feel about Rihanna. they’ve both shifted artistic paradigms to a point where we should really be more appreciative of all the work that they’ve already given us. allow musicians to release music on their own timelines, and if they must pursue professional and personal endeavors outside of music, whatever music they eventually give us will be all the richer for it.
what’s your favorite Frank Ocean song? is it on nostalgia, ULTRA, or a subsequent release? do you remember where you were the first time you heard his music? feel free to let me know in the comments! i’ll leave you with a few of my absolute favorites from his discography.
i prefer to play the former on YouTube, and the latter is in my personal collection of MP3s.
We All Try is the record that let me know he was really a magician with the pen
Gotta love an artist who bucks the powers that be to do their own thing. I'm partial to Strawberry Swing, very dreamy.