Frank Ocean’s ‘Blonde’ songwriter credits finally revealed

The Beatles, Gang Of Four and Elliott Smith are among Ocean’s helpers

The songwriting credits to Frank Ocean’s album ‘Blonde’ have finally been revealed by songwriting body ASCAAP.

Since Blonde was released on August 20, Ocean has kept its details secret. No producer or songwriting credits have been available, with the magazine given away with the CD version at Ocean’s pop-up shops last month not listing any details.

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However, details lodged at the publicly-available ASCAAP database have now given songwriting credits for 12 of the album’s 17 songs. It’s not clear why the credits for ‘Close To You’, ‘Facebook Story’, ‘Solo (Reprise)’, ‘Good Guy’ and ‘Self Control’ have remained secret.

Acts sampled on the other 12 songs include The Beatles, Elliott Smith and Gang Of Four. The full credits and sample details are below.

Ocean’s co-writers include Jamie xx, ex-Vampire Weekend keyboardist Rostam Batmanglij, Kendrick Lamar, Tyler, The Creator, gospel singer Kim Burrell and skateboarder Sage Elesser. Om’Mas Keith, who contributed to Ocean’s previous album ‘Channel Orange’, is a key contributor again.

’Nikes’: Ocean, Om’Mas Keith, Carl, Harry and Jeff Palmer. The Palmer brothers wrote The Mohawks’ 1968 song ‘Champ’, sampled on ‘Nikes’.

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’Ivy’: Ocean, Om’Mas Keith, Rostam Batmanglij, Jamie xx

’Pink + White’: Ocean, Om’Mas Keith, Tyler The Creator, Pharrell Williams

’Be Yourself’: Ocean, Om’Mas Keith

’Solo’: Ocean, Om’Mas Keith, 88-Keys, Sage Elesser, Todd Rungren, Mikey Alfred, Rho Spearman, Dave Allen, Hugo Burnham, Jon King. ‘Solo’ samples Todd Rungren’s song ‘Flamingo’ and an undisclosed Gang Of Four song written by Allen, Burnham and King.

’Skyline To’: Ocean, Om’Mas Keith, Tyler The Creator, Kendrick Lamar

’Nights’: Ocean, Om’Mas Keith, Buddy Ross, Vegyn, Michael Uzuwuru

’Pretty Sweet’; Ocean, Om’Mas Keith

’White Ferrari’: Ocean, Om’Mas Keith, James Blake, Paul McCartney, John Lennon. ‘White Ferrari’ samples The Beatles’ 1966 song ‘Here, There And Everywhere’.

’Seigfried’: Ocean, Om’Mas Keith, Elliott Smith, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr. ‘Seigfried’ samples The Beatles’ 1967 song ‘Flying’ and Elliott Smith’s posthumous song ‘A Fond Farewell’, released in 2004

’Godspeed’: Ocean, Om’Mas Keith, Kim Burrell, Elliott Smith. It isn’t clear why Smith is listed here as well as on ‘Seigfried’, as he doesn’t appear to have been sampled.

’Futura Free’: Ocean, Om’Mas Keith, Mikey Alfred, Sage Elesser, Andy Gill, Dave Allen, Hugo Burnham, Jon King. ‘Futura Free’ samples Gang Of Four’s ‘Love Like Anthrax’, written by Gill as well as his bandmates from ‘Solo’.

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