Meghan has done a bit more thinking so that means that you guys get to do a bit more listening, in reading form that is (well listening to music too).

Check out issue 2 of “A Meg Theory” to see what she was thinking about this time.

DISCLOSURE: The progress/release of this article was stalled by the Estallido Social in Chile beginning October 18, 2019, which I 100% support.

So there’s this tweet about how Kahlid is the Frank Ocean of our generation. Now I’m not here to talk badly of Kahlid, boy’s a talent, but I have no use for comparisons, especially ones trying to dethrone Frank Ocean. Khalid himself blocked the OP. But yes anyway, as another Twitter user responded, Frank Ocean is the Frank Ocean of our generation, period.

But let me introduce who came to mind; Dijon. I’m not saying he’s Frank Ocean, but I am saying the first time I heard his breakout album, Sci Fi 1 I cradled my laptop in my bed going “aaaah.” I am saying there’s a generation gap between Millenials and Gen-Z that Dijon is speaking to, in his tender, real, subtle, stylish, intelligent way. He spoke to me specifically because my favorite type of art is one that captures super-specific, super real moments. Read the lyrics to his pre-Sci Fi 1-single Nico’s Red Truck, it is dripping in them. I’ll give you a little sample,

I rode my bike to the YMCA
Got my first pay-check from working the day-care
It got wet, 'cause it rained on the way back
But I loved the smell, so I just inhaled

Fuck man. Another lyric that pops out of “Nico’s Red Truck” is, “I had a wide-angle smile-” a sort of sophisticated artistic reference. Who else does that--yes Frank Ocean that is. “Now film it with that drone cam / Put a zoom on that stick, Noé” Ocean sings on his single, Chanel, referencing filmmaker Gaspar Noé.

I am saying that Dijon makes you feel. He makes you feel something kind of like what Frank Ocean’s Channel Orange did to people around my age (I was born in 1995) when it came out in 2012 and what it continues to do. There was something about that album. There was just like an unspoken obsession for lack of a better word, maybe connection rather, with people my age, you didn’t have to put it into words it was just like, “play this album, play it all the way through, please.” My discovery of Dijon felt a little something like that.

Dijon’s music is sad but makes you smile. It’s soft and tender. Dijon is the more “bedroom pop” version. Like Stevey Lacey’s Demo recorded mostly on Lacey’s iPhone, Dijon’s Sci Fi 1 was recorded in living rooms scattered about because he doesn’t really like studios. You apparently can even hear the TV in the background of some songs. As real as real can be. Raw is another word inspired, it’s very early in his career super raw still, but in the best way.

His lyrics are full of these subtle references to moments that on the surface don’t seem profound but because of how specific and human and even mundane they are they resonate with you. Similar to Chance the Rapper’s line “what did you do to your hair?” on Same Drugs.

Not only does Dijon make you feel but he is not afraid to feel either, and he feels and bleeds all over his singles, his album, and his performances. His single Skin is a sonic/poetic representation of sunny morning sex with someone who makes you feel like home. It is not just his lyrics though, it is the way he sings them, his delivery, there’s so much emotion. If you need any convincing of how emotional this boy gets for us, take his performance of his single Violence). He gets so passionate towards the end that he seems to even surprise himself at 2:04 in. That song is special, no wonder he ripped himself apart singing it.

There was a day recently (well not anymore but it was recent to October) when I was in a last-ditch effort to replace my Chilean debit card that was eaten by an ATM. I was on the micro (what the bus in Chile is called) and Thinkin Bout You by Frank Ocean was playing as I stood up to get off. I noticed it and was like “is this actually playing right now” and then when I realized it was I was like “should I stay on” but nah I had a mission to complete. I am aware of this song’s immense popularity but that bus in Chile was not exactly a place I would’ve expected to hear it. Back to the anecdote, every other time I went to try and replace my card I just knew it wasn’t gonna work and I was all worked up about it because my ID was expired and I was still waiting on my visa so that I could replace it. But this day I really didn’t care, I felt kind of free. I was in the bank and I had just downloaded Dijon’s singles and Violence) came on as I was waiting to be helped and I was just so content. I just kind of knew for some reason it was gonna work out. And then I was being helped and handed the man behind the desk my expired ID that got me turned down every other time, but this time the response was “excelente.” Then I got the question “normal o internacional.” My smile was un-hideable.

So that’s a completely personal and specific connection to the two artists. But I decided a couple of years ago that I wanted to make art that would recollect ultra-specific moments and feelings that only those who have experienced them could relate to and hey that’s a little like what Dijon and Frank Ocean do.

A Meg Theory | Frank Ocean is the Frank Ocean of Our Generation But You Should Listen to Dijon

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