
He tells himself white lies in the verse before flipping to a falsetto that could make D'Angelo sweat for the endless wound of a chorus: "Do you not think so far ahead?/ Cause I've been thinkin bout forever." It's all there on proper opener "Thinkin Bout You", where he battles his own brain while reminiscing about a first love.

On Channel Orange, this serene deadpan is splashed with crackling emotion, as though he's alternately narrating and starring in his own Magnolia-style cross-wired-heartbreak epic.


Along with Ocean's empathy for his characters is a sense of repose- he's been there, he's weathered it, and he's come away with his Zen-like calm intact.
