For Frank Ocean, his debut album Channel Orange was the current state of R&B on reverse steroids; excellent lyricism with minimalism production in electro funk/R&B/pop and live instrumentation captured R&B and pop fans in a way that hasn’t been done since the days D’Angelo’s throwback R&B captured critics. Kendrick Lamar’sGood Kid, M.A.A.D City could be considered the album of today’s teenagers’ generation. Kendrick’s complex bars, filled with tongue twisters, instant classic wordplay along with some of the best production on an album in years made GKMC an album that represents a time capsule for fall 2012/spring 2013. For Kendrick Lamar and Frank Ocean, though, one must wonder how they are composing their follow up with such high expectations to not only deliver another classic, but show growth from their classic.
Being an artist is tricky, and their next moves must be calculating to the point where they not only excel in their field but keep their old fans happy and new fans entertained. With so many avenues to explore, artists following the classic have to literally be at the drawing board and ponder the following questions; should I follow the Nas model in which I purposely dumb my talents down to make an album that would be considered a “classic” for the times? (Illmatic to It Was Written) Or take both Kanye routes in which I express my creativity for the good and extreme? (The College Dropout to Late Registration, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy to Yeezus) Or, take extended time off because the pressures of creating that new material consumes them mentally (Andre 3000, Lauryn Hill) or perfectionism with a combination of pressure stunts their growth (D’Angelo.)
Hopefully, Frank Ocean and Kendrick Lamar trust their artist instincts and craft the album that they can personally be satisfied with. Just as Michael Jackson witnessed with his Badalbum, Kendrick Lamar and Frank Ocean could land in that same boat of crafting an actually exceptional album, except that it falls short of the previous album according to the listening public.. But in the end, when they complete their new projects, comparisons to their classic albums will forever hunt their careers. Unless, they make something even better. And that takes using every inch of the small margin for error that they have.
Article Appeared @http://thyblackman.com/2014/08/12/kendrick-lamar-frank-ocean-and-the-curse-of-the-classic-album/