Abstract
This paper examines performance(s) of masculinity in the music of Frank Ocean and Elliott Smith. The primary focus of analysis is Frank Ocean’s sophomore release Blonde (2016) while Elliott Smith’s solo career is used a point of comparison. Important to this paper are opinions of each artist from fans and critics alike. Performances by both artists are analyzed in detail to delineate the way both musicians, in different ways, fail to fit into popular music performance standards. Non-academic reviews and opinions of Blonde are used as bases for analysis, such as the glaring lack of drums on the album which represents a certain ambivalence toward the commonly understood sexuality of popular music. Both Ocean and Smith perform alternatives to popular masculinity in both their recorded music and performances––these alternatives can also be understood as failures to be productive in a normative manner.
How to Cite
Younts, W., (2019) “Modeling Masculinity in Frank Ocean’s Blonde and the Music of Elliott Smith”, Capstone, The UNC Asheville Journal of Undergraduate Scholarship 32(1).
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