Posted by Andrew Unterberger on 05/23/2011 at 12:13 PM Videos

The Popdust Files: frank ocean, odd future

Don’t squint and you could easily miss that Frank Ocean is anything but your average R&B singer. The Odd Future gang member has a voice every bit as sweet as a Ne-Yo or Chris Brown, and with a dramatic piano hook like the one that introduces “Acura Integurl,” you’d be forgiven for thinking you were about to listen to a Brian McKnight record. But Ocean shares the shit-eating sense of humor and anarchic attitude of his rapping brethren, and his super-emotional ballad ends up being little more than him bragging about turning his Radiohead and Coldplay-listening girl into a Lil Wayne fan, and making a come-on to the sky (“Maybe one day you’ll get to kiss me”). Meanwhile, the two-minute video just features Ocean driving around the hills in his titular whip, occasionally leaning against it with a pensive expression like “Hey, I could probably have been in a Boyz II Men video, too!”

In a genre not exactly known for its ability to take the piss out of itself, Ocean’s smirking, almost parodic efforts are as appreciated as anybody’s since the late, great Nate Dogg. Not that we’re comparing the two, exactly—but the world could definitely use a new golden throated, wickedly funny West Coast crooner now. Just saying…