By now it should be fairly clear that Frank Ocean operates on his own timeline when it comes to releasing music.
He delayed his second studio album by over a year, letting the release date pass without comment, then dropped two albums in two days.
This year he has released four non-album singles, so far, with ‘Provider’ being the least commercially-sounding of the four: a meandering experimental tune that references Dragonball Z, Talking Heads, Jaws, Stanley Kubrick and shoegaze music – and that’s just lyrically. The music is heavy-lidded and sounds like it was recorded during the Blonde sessions – which it very well may have been.
Listen to the song below, or check out a lyric video over at Frank’s site.
Get unlimited access to the coverage that shapes our culture.
Subscribe to Rolling Stone magazine
Subscribe to Rolling Stone magazine
