"Def Jam allowed Ocean to leave the label early because their relationship was comparable to a “bad marriage.” An anonymous insider said “it wasn’t going to work out” between the two parties because Ocean “didn’t want to be on a label. He wanted to do his own thing.” Both parties reportedly decided the next LP would be his last on the label. That’s what 'Endless' — the visual album — ended up being."Sounds like Def Jam distanced themselves from the album, because they wanted him to do high profile features and release commercial formula singles. Frank basically said, "screw you, I'm doing me!," hence the bad marriage thing. He was fighting for his own creative freedom. I find 'Blonde' to be a very difficult album to listen to, and I've never had the desire to listen to it again. It's commendable he cares more about artistic integrity than overall sales.
Maxwell's album disappointed me this year as did Usher's. I honesty don't know what's going on with today's R&B males.