"Chanel" is a song by American singer-songwriter

Frank Ocean Christopher Francis "Frank" Ocean (born Christopher Edwin Breaux; October 28, 1987), is an American singer, songwriter, and rapper. His works are noted by music critics for featuring avant-garde styles and introspective, elliptical lyrics. Ocean ...

, released as a standalone

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

on March 10, 2017. "Chanel" was

premiere A première, also spelled premiere, is the debut (first public presentation) of a play, film, dance, or musical composition. A work will often have many premières: a world première (the first time it is shown anywhere in the world), its first ...

d on the second episode of Ocean's ''

Blonded Radio ''Blonded Radio'' (stylized as ''blonded RADIO'') is Frank Ocean's Apple Music 1 radio show that originally lasted from February to August 2017, with four additional special episodes that aired in November and December 2018, four more episodes fr ...

''. A remix of the song featuring American rapper

ASAP Rocky Rakim Athelaston Mayers (born October 3, 1988), known professionally as ASAP Rocky ( ; stylized as A$AP Rocky), is an American rapper, music producer and record executive. Born and raised in Harlem, he embarked on his musical career as a membe ...

was also aired alongside the song's premiere.

Background

On the morning of March 10, 2017, it was reported that Frank Ocean was set to release his second song of 2017. "Chanel" followed the release of Scottish producer

Calvin Harris Adam Richard Wiles (born 17 January 1984), known professionally as Calvin Harris, is a Scottish DJ, record producer, singer, and songwriter who has released six studio albums. His debut studio album, ''I Created Disco'', was released in June ...

' "

Slide Slide or Slides may refer to: Places * Slide, California, former name of Fortuna, California Arts, entertainment, and media Music Albums * ''Slide'' (Lisa Germano album), 1998 * ''Slide'' (George Clanton album), 2018 *''Slide'', by Patrick Glees ...

" featuring Ocean and American hip-hop group

Migos Migos () is an American hip hop trio from Lawrenceville, Georgia, founded in 2008. The group was originally composed of Southern rappers Quavo, Takeoff, and Offset. Quavo is from Athens, Georgia; Offset and Takeoff were born and raised in Law ...

Composition

"Chanel" is a slow piano ballad with Ocean rapping his verses and

crooning Crooner is a term used to describe primarily male singers who performed using a smooth style made possible by better microphones which picked up quieter sounds and a wider range of frequencies, allowing the singer to access a more dynamic range ...

the hook "I see both sides like Chanel/See on both sides like Chanel." Ocean uses the symbolism of duality to discuss

sexual fluidity Sexual fluidity is one or more changes in sexuality or sexual identity (sometimes known as sexual orientation identity). Sexual orientation is stable and unchanging for the vast majority of people, but some research indicates that some people may ...

and

masculinity Masculinity (also called manhood or manliness) is a set of attributes, behaviors, and roles associated with men and boys. Masculinity can be theoretically understood as socially constructed, and there is also evidence that some behaviors con ...

. In the remix,

raps about ex-girlfriend

Chanel Iman Chanel Iman Robinson (formerly Shepard) (born December 1, 1990) is an American model best known for her work as a Victoria's Secret Angel. ''Vogue Paris'' declared her as one of the top 30 models of the 2000s. Early life Iman was born in Atla ...

Reception

Immediately upon its release, "Chanel" was praised for its lyrics about

and challenging

heteronormative Heteronormativity is the concept that heterosexuality is the preferred or normal mode of sexual orientation. It assumes the gender binary (i.e., that there are only two distinct, opposite genders) and that sexual and marital relations are most f ...

notions of masculinity. Austin Williams of '' The Undefeated'' described the song as "the coldest, gayest, and most securely masculine flex in the history of rap."

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

fans on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

called "Chanel" a

bisexual Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, whi ...

anthem. ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...

'' named the song as "Best New Track", and in 2019 included it on their list of "The 200 Best Songs of the 2010s" at number 180. On March 15, 2017, French luxury brand

Chanel Chanel ( , ) is a French high-end luxury fashion house founded in 1910 by Coco Chanel in Paris. Chanel specializes in women's ready-to-wear, luxury goods, and accessories and licenses its name and branding to Luxottica for eyewear. Chanel is ...

released two ads with the captions "We see both sides like Frank Ocean", flipping the lyrics of the song. A Chanel spokesperson told ''

The Fader ''The Fader'' (stylized as ''FADER'') is a magazine based in New York City that was launched in 1999 by Rob Stone and Jon Cohen. The magazine covers music, style and culture. It was the first print publication to be released on iTunes. It is o ...

'' through email that, "This is simply our way of acknowledging his nod to Chanel in his latest single."

Charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{authority control 2017 singles 2017 songs Frank Ocean songs ASAP Rocky songs Songs written by Frank Ocean Songs written by ASAP Rocky Songs written by Frank Dukes Bisexuality-related songs Songs written by Michael Uzowuru Songs written by Jeff Kleinman