"Chanel" is a song by American singer-songwriter

Frank Ocean Frank Ocean (born Christopher Edwin Breaux; October 28, 1987) is an American singer and songwriter. He has been credited by several music journalism, music critics as a pioneer of the alternative R&B genre. Ocean has won two Grammy Awards and a B ...

, released as a standalone single on March 10, 2017. "Chanel" was

premiere A premiere, also spelled première, (from , ) is the debut (first public presentation) of a work, i.e. play, film, dance, musical composition, or even a performer in that work. History Raymond F. Betts attributes the introduction of the ...

d on the second episode of Ocean's '' Blonded Radio''. 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. Born and raised in Harlem, he embarked on his musical career as a member of the hip hop music, hip hop coll ...

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 (and sometimes under the stage name Love Regenerator), is a Scottish DJ, record producer, singer, and songwriter. His debut studio album, ''I Created Disco'' (2007 ...

' "

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 Glee ...

" featuring Ocean and American hip-hop group

Migos Migos () were an American hip hop group founded in Lawrenceville, Georgia, in 2008. The group was composed of rapper Quavo, his nephew Takeoff, and their "cousin" friend Offset. Quavo is from Athens, Georgia, while Offset and Takeoff were bo ...

Composition

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

crooning A crooner is a singer who performs with a smooth, intimate style that originated in the 1920s. The crooning style was made possible by better microphones that picked up quieter sounds and a wider range of frequencies, allowing the singer to acce ...

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 for the vast majority of people, but some research indicates that some people may experience ch ...

and

masculinity Masculinity (also called manhood or manliness) is a set of attributes, behaviors, and roles generally associated with men and boys. Masculinity can be theoretically understood as Social construction of gender, socially constructed, and there i ...

. In the remix,

raps about ex-girlfriend Chanel Iman.

Reception

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

and challenging

heteronormative Heteronormativity is the definition of heterosexuality as the normative human sexuality. It assumes the gender binary (i.e., that there are only two distinct, opposite genders) and that sexual and marital relations are most fitting between peo ...

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 LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...

fans on

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

called "Chanel" a

bisexual Bisexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior toward both males and females. It may also be defined as the attraction to more than one gender, to people of both the same and different gender, or the attraction t ...

anthem. ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

'' 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 luxury fashion house founded in 1910 by Coco Chanel in Paris. It is privately owned by French brothers, Alain and Gérard Wertheimer, through the holding company Chanel Limited, established in 2018 and headquarte ...

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'' is a magazine established in 1999 as an outlet for Cornerstone Agency, a marketing and public relations firm established by Rob Stone and Jon Cohen. The magazine covers music, style and culture. History and work It is owned by T ...

'' 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