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Music

A Public Plea For Drake and Frank Ocean to Cover Modest Mouse’s “Float On”

Everyone deserves to dream.

Amidst the release of Frank Ocean's new single "Chanel" and the confirmation of Drake's More Life, a Tumblr post by the former proved to be the convergence of these two worlds. "Cuz the 6S has the aux cable," went the caption to Frank's shirtless selfie, prompting mass speculation on whether him and Drake had song together. It's most likely in reference to the iPhone model, but now that this idea is in the air, let's get extremely deep.

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The two have always orbited each other. Both were the only male features on Beyonce's self-titled other than Jay Z and that means they are basically very good pals. As well, Frank shouted out Drizzy on his debut mixtape Nostalgia, Ultra, and Drake, in an Apple commercial, could be seen briefly listening to Blonde (That's not to also forget that one Kanye also co-signed Drake's love for the album through a tweet). But Ocean and Drake are similar creatures: both are nostalgic, often heartsick, with Ocean's wisdoms swirling over top of "Thinkin' Bout You" and Drake being, well, Drake, rapping about the women he has loved and lost on every single record. Ultimately, however, this is just an excuse for us to say something we here at Noisey have always wanted: We need Frank and Drake to do a cover of "Float On" by Modest Mouse.

And before you say, "why this song?" let's look at the facts:

A lake enthusiast—so basically Canadian by proxy—Frank Ocean has expressed his affinity for cavorting in freshwater, sometimes as a whale. He has swam, but has he floated? Drake has always hinted at his love for traversing large bodies of water ("Dawg, just bought a island, gotta sail to it," "Swimming in the money, come and find me, Nemo) but after months of internal strife he finally diverts his attention to the Great Lakes. Their cover band Float, On(tario) has to become a real thing.

Let us also remind you that Modest Mouse are responsible for aquajams like "March into the Sea" and "Missed the Boat," off the memorably-titled album We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank.

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Inspired by these timeless singles, Drake and Ocean will devote themselves to the pure and distilled pursuit of only singing "Float On" which is, well, about water. Together, Ocean and Drake will harmonize and reproduce Isaac Brock's whiny cadence to sing about the atmospheric pressure of modern day life near Lake Huron, the distant horizons of Lake Michigan and the great emotional depths of Lake Superior, the second largest lake in the world by area, and sweet, often forgotten, Lake Erie.

Through their combined aquatic milieu, music will change course forever. Think of how well that sparkling guitar riff would be served by Ocean's warm purr on the choruses and Drake's "6 God" yelp on the verses. Modest Mouse songs are all about rhythmic syncopation and this would be no different.

We are asking both of you to fulfill this request, please, from the bottoms of our icy Canadian hearts. We've been holding this idea in our minds so that the universe could actualize it. Proof:

Our dreams are this close to coming true and we're not giving up. No one should ever give up on their dreams, yes, but this one is different because it's ours. Christopher Francis "Frank" Ocean and Aubrey Drake Graham, please do us a solid and cover "Float On" for the good of Canada, the world, music, and the element of water.

Jabbari Weekes is the Noisey Canada Editor, an irresponsible one. Slander him on Twitter.
Phil and Sarah were dragged into this. Don't blame them. They're also on Twitter here and here.