Def Jam's contracted edition of Frank Ocean's Nostalgia, Ultra never materialized. The label nonetheless released two of the mixtape's songs as singles. One of them, "Novacane," clashed with everything else on the radio, reached the Top 20 of Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop chart, and crossed into the Hot 100. The singer's presence spread with appearances on Goblin, 4, Watch the Throne, and The OF Tape, Vol. 2. He then completed this album with Malay, Om'Mas Keith, and Pharrell as his co-producers. Journalists present at June pre-release listening events speculated that some of the lyrics revealed Ocean's bisexuality. Ocean subsequently published a screen shot of a document, dated December 27, 2011, that included details of a crushing romantic relationship with a male. Ocean also revealed that he wrote for the sake of his sanity and credited his inner circle: "I'm sure these people kept me alive, kept me safe." One listen to Channel Orange makes it obvious that he is as free as an artist as he is as a man….
…This release joins the elite of great recordings, performances that will likely to be enjoyed for as long as music endures. (…) If you think Vivaldi a bore, try this and experience conversion.
American composer Stuart Saunders Smith is an enigma among late-20th century composers in that he has forsaken the notion of interiority in his music. This gorgeous sampling of his work, which is finally becoming known throughout the United States and in Europe, reveals the same kind of centrality of the external as that of Ralph Vaughan Williams. Truthfully, there is no similarity to Williams other than the tenderness he imbues his compositions with. For example, in a solo for the oboist called "Hawk," the performer is made keenly aware of the shimmering glissandi, which float through the piece as if they were written as a gift to him.