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Music

The Song Credits for Frank Ocean's 'Blond(e)' Have Finally Arrived

And they're an... Ocean of information.

Blonde is an auditory wonderland of a record but its production credits have been kept obscured in favour of Frank Ocean's blanket acknowledgements, leaving listeners to piece together who did what on which song. However, as Pitchfork reports, ASCAP's database has been updated with songwriting credits for each specific song, which looks like the key to that mystery. The credits reveal lots of obvious collaborators: Ocean's right hand Om'Mas Keith co-wrote a lot of the material, for one, and previous collaborator James Blake had a hand in writing "White Ferrari." Tyler, the Creator and Pharrell co-wrote and produced "Pink + White" which makes sense give that track's jazziness.  Likewise, Jamie xx and Rostam Batmanglij joined forces for the rock-ish feel of "Ivy."

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On the other hand, some of the samples that have been unearthed are left-field. The interpolation of the Beatles' "Here, There and Everywhere" on "White Ferrari" stuck out on first listen but the bit-crushed snippet of the band's 1967 instrumental "Flying" buried in "Seigfried" probably didn't. Random synth whistles from Todd Rundgren's "Flamingo" ended up in "Solo" and the early EP version of Gang of Four's abrasive screed "(Love Like) Anthrax" forms part of "Futura Free." Of course, this not to forget the Elliott Smith bit in "Seigfried," too. The heavy use of psychedelic and experimental rock as sample choices is yet another unconventional choice in Ocean's unconventional music, I guess. Read what's been shared of the songwriting credits for Blonde below.

1. "Nikes"

Frank Ocean
Om'Mas Keith
Carl Palmer
Harry Palmer
Jeff Palmer

2. "Ivy"

Frank Ocean
Rostam Batmanglij
Om'Mas Keith
Jamie xx

3. "Pink + White"

Frank Ocean
Om'Mas Keith
Tyler, the Creator
Pharrell Williams

4. "Be Yourself"

Frank Ocean
Om'Mas Keith

5. "Solo"

Frank Ocean
Mikey Alfred
Dave Allen
Hugo Burnham
Sage Elsesser
Om'Mas Keith
Jon King
88-Keys
Todd Rundgren
Rho Spearman

6. "Skyline To"

Frank Ocean
Om'Mas Keith 
Kendrick Lamar
Tyler, the Creator

7. "Self Control"

(not yet listed)

8. "Good Guy"

(not yet listed)

9. "Nights"

Frank Ocean
Om'Mas Keith 
Buddy Ross
Michael Uzowuru
Vegyn

10. "Solo (Reprise)"

(not yet listed)

11. "Pretty Sweet"

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Frank Ocean
Om'Mas Keith

12. "Facebook Story"

(not yet listed)

13. "Close to You"

(not yet listed)

14. "White Ferrari"

Frank Ocean
James Blake
Om'Mas Keith
John Lennon
Paul McCartney

15. "Seigfried"

Frank Ocean
George Harrison
Om'Mas Keith
John Lennon
Paul McCartney
Elliott Smith
Ringo Starr

16. "Godspeed"

Frank Ocean
Kim Burrell
Om'Mas Keith
Elliott Smith

 17. "Futura Free"

Frank Ocean
Mikey Alfred
Dave Allen
Hugo Burnham
Sage Elsesser
Andy Gill
Om'Mas Keith
Jon King

Phil is mainly here for Rundgren. Follow him on Twitter.