Thread by @blahnded, 4 years of Frank Ocean’s “Nikes”

4 years of Frank Ocean’s “Nikes” — a thread

Nikes was Frank Ocean’s return to music following Channel Orange and served as Blonde’s lead single.

Nikes explores Frank’s life & sexuality during his first years of adulthood

The song touches on many topics including drug usage, hookup culture, betrayal and other topics.

This scene is a callback to Brad Pitt’s Fight Club scene where he gives everyone a basic set of rules, and then repeats it.

Nikes begins with Frank realizing how materialistic a girl was, and that all she really wanted was a way to gain access to his money.

Frank compares the gold digger to Carmelo, implying that the reason why she never got married is because she was worried about the wrong things.

“On that white like Othello” is a reference to cocaine; he’s saying she must be high if she thinks she’s gonna get a ring or money out of him.

As he says this, there’s a woman in the video on a white horse which symbolizes cocaine.

This scene pays homage to American Beauty, which is similar to Blonde in terms of exploring sexuality.

“I don’t play, I don’t make time, but if you need dick I got you, & I Yam from the line”

Frank references a Yam, otherwise known as a Slam Dunk, to emphasize how good he is at sex.

Nikes also includes a memorial for late rappers A$AP Yams, Pimp C and also Trayvon Martin.

“RIP Trayvon, that nigga look just like me”

“Pour up for A$AP, RIP Pimp C”

Frank memorializes them because both died due to accidental overdoses caused by lean.

Frank used this opportunity to emphasize the racial profiling that African Americans face daily.

“That’s my little cousin, he got a little trade, his girl keep the scales, a little mermaid”

Scales reference a mermaid, actual scales used to weigh drugs, and a type of expensive cocaine that is called “Fish Scale”

This line also references the movie “The Little Mermaid” because his cousin’s girlfriend and Ariel both involve themselves in things that they know will get them punished.

This line also connects with “Lost” from Channel Orange which is about a drug dealer getting his girlfriend involved in the drug business. https://open.spotify.com/track/4L7jMAP8UcIe309yQmkdcO?si=99npFjMlSPGe2ZaXU3wGsw

Lost - Frank Ocean

https://open.spotify.com/track/4L7jMAP8UcIe309yQmkdcO?si=99npFjMlSPGe2ZaXU3wGsw

“We out by the pool, some little mermaids, me and them gel, like Twigs with them bangs”

Frank shouts FKA Twigs out

Frank shifts into the female’s perspective and explains that she’s fine with not having an emotional attatchment to her boyfriend, because he takes care of her.

This scene references the Heaven’s Gate cult suicide

Members of the original Heaven’s Gate cult believed that ritualistic suicides was the way to reach Heaven.

In an interview with New York Times, Frank talked about how isolated he felt, and how much he questioned the people around him.

In Nikes he does the same

Frank uses this as a metophorical protection against fake friends with bad intentions.

Here Frank references the dust that weed makes when it crumbles and calls it glitter.

“We laid out on this wet floor, away turf no Astro, mesmerized with how the strobes glow”

Frank & his friends are laying on the grass looking at the stars, high, or “away” from home/reality.

This could also be a nod to the Houston Astros baseball team because he stayed in Houston for a short period.

Frank tries to seduce a girl while her boyfriend is away

“It’s humid in these Balmains, I mean my balls sticking to my jeans”

The jeans are making him hot, but also he wants to get naked with her.

Frank ends the song by revealing that he loves her more than her boyfriend loves her.

“I may be younger but I’ll look after you, we’re not in love but I’ll make love to you, when you’re not here, I’ll save some for you, I’m not him but I’ll mean something to you”

Fun Fact

It’s speculated that this scene was added because Frank’s Snapchat name was “arealglitterboy”