Frank Ocean’s ‘nostalgia, ULTRA’ re-release will be ‘lite,’ singer hoping to clear samples

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When the re-release of Frank Ocean’s mixtape ‘nostalgia, ULTRA’ hits retail stores this summer, it will likely be missing a few tracks.

Ocean recently chatted with MTV News about the re-packaged disc, which will be called “Nostalgia, LITE.” He confirmed that he is struggling to get clearances on a handful of songs. On the disc, he sampled tracks from Coldplay, MGMT, the Eagles and Mr. Hudson.

“The Eagles sample [‘American Wedding’] has no chance in hell of being cleared,” he told MTV News. “Coldplay sample [‘Strawberry Swing’], possibly. I hear ‘possibly’ from people who say they know. MGMT, those guys seem chill. I heard they heard the record [‘Nature Feels’] and they liked it a lot, so hopefully that can go someway.”

For the re-release, Def Jam, which signed Ocean before Odd Future blew up last year, will package new material along with tracks from the singer’s debut. Though rumors are circulating that the disc will be released July 26, the label says there is no specific date as of yet.

The Tricky Stewart-produced fan favorite “Novacane” is the set’s first single. Ocean recently debuted a trippy video for the single, and though we can’t post the video on Pop & Hiss (the visual and lyrics aren’t safe for work), you can watch the clip here.

Though signed, Ocean originally didn’t wait around for the label to issue the disc, instead first offering the lush R&B album for free via Tumblr in February. (Though the link is expired on his site, the disc is easy to find, for now.) The strategy paid off: The free download of ‘nostalgia, ULTRA’ garnered much acclaim, and no doubt prompted Def Jam to bring Ocean onto its release schedule. There still isn’t a complete tracklisting for the disc, but he also released a video for the previously unlreased ‘Acura Integurl,’ which is rumored to appear on the album.

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-- Gerrick D. Kennedy
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