Was Frank Ocean’s Blonde album title a subtle Quentin Tarantino reference?
Frank briefly collaborated with the director on Django Unchained
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The theory that Frank Ocean named his latest album Blonde/Blond after the feminine and masculine versions of the word, in a nod to gender fluidity, is a nice one, but there’s no reason it be the only reference point for the title.
Frank is a cinephile, even listing his favourite movies in the magazine that accompanied the album, and, many weeks after the LP dropped, a fan has spotted a possible allusion to Tarantino.
Below is a still from Kill Bill Vol. I and an image from his magazine that ended up being widely used in reportage of the album:
The musician and the filmmaker are both craftsman and are familiar—Frank was supposed to have a song, "Wise Man", on Tarantino’s Django Unchained soundtrack (it ended up featuring in Antoine Fuqua’s Southpaw).
It’s possible this is all a coincidence, Frank is obsessed with all things vehicular after all, something he’s put down to a "straight boy fantasy", but I could imagine him soaking up the aesthetics of Tarantino’s work.
Perhaps straying into tin foil hat territory, one fan argued: “Kill Bill Vol.1 the ultimate revenge story. Blond the ultimate revenge against Def Jam” (Frank is thought to have self-released Blonde after falling out with the label).