Kanye West contributes a poem - about McDonald’s, of all things - for the mag, stretched across three spreads. Upon first listen, Beyonce can be heard wailing in the background on “Pink + White,” a floating mid-tempo tune peppered with keys and a swinging percussion section, while Burrell sings at the conclusion of “Godspeed.” Andre 3000 guests on the brief “Solo (Reprise),” while ocean’s mother leaves him a voicemail about not doing drugs or drinking alcohol on “Be Yourself.” Several artists are credited as Ocean draws from outside lyrics, namely the Beatles’ “Here, There and Everywhere” on “White Ferrari” and Elliott Smith’s “A Fond Farewell” on “Seigfried.” The album is unexpectedly low-key, with many quiet tracks and ballads. Silver packages containing the magazine, which came with a CD of the project, lined the walls of New York’s Mulberry Iconic Magazines, a bodega where the album was playing on Sonos speakers, while the Los Angeles pop-up took place at Centerfold International, a small newsstand on Fairfax Avenue. Ocean’s mother and brother were at the event in Los Angeles.

To commemorate the release of Blonde and its accompanying periodical, Ocean staged pop-up shops in New York, London, Chicago and Los Angeles. After releasing his visual album Endless on Thursday and a music video for “Nikes” early Saturday morning, the elusive singer-songwriter has released yet another album, titled Blonde, as well as an oversized, glossy magazine titled Boys Don’t Cry, which Ocean initially suggested was the title of the LP. Frank Ocean has been keeping fans on their toes the past few days.

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