Good morning and welcome to Day Four of Frank Ocean Week, which has seen the newly anointed R&B superstar hit No. 1 on iTunes, break hearts (in a good way) on Jimmy Fallon, and charm just about everyone who has come into contact with Channel Orange. That’s a solid number of people, according to early projections — the album is expected to sell between 100,000 and 120,000 copies from its iTunes exclusive, which should be enough to land it the No. 2 spot. (The No. 1 is supposed to go to the Zac Brown Band, who have another one of those Amazon MP3 deals. Enough with those.) While we’re talking sales: Target has apparently declined to carry Channel Orange, citing the iTunes exclusive, but others (most notably Odd Future manager Christian Clancy) have pointed out that the company has an uncomfortable history with LGBT rights. Clancy has since issued an apology.
But you were promised bonus tracks! And so here is “Golden Girl,†which will appear on the physical version of Channel Orange when it hits stores that are not Target on July 17. It picks up about two minutes after “End,†and there is a lighter, vaguely tropical feel and story line that, frankly, is a welcome relief following that one-two punch of “Bad Religion†and “Pink Matter.†(Not that those songs aren’t excellent, but Jesus, it gets a little hard to breathe with all the feelings.) Tyler pops in for the last verse, just in case you missed him.
And finally, it’s probably worth noting that Channel Orange got a 9.5 over on Pitchfork this morning. Frank Ocean Week might be longer than a week.