At Your Best (You Are Love)

At Your Best (You Are Love)

Frank Ocean

“At Your Best (You Are Love)” is the second track from Frank Ocean’s 2016 visual album Endless and a cover of the Isley Brothers’ 1976 song “(At Your Best) You Are Love,” performed in the rendition of Aaliyah’s 1994 cover “At Your Best (You Are Love).”

Ocean first released a stripped-down version of his cover under the title “You Are Luhh” via Tumblr on January 17, 2015, as a tribute to Aaliyah on her posthumous 36th birthday. This cover would later be remixed for Endless with additional background vocals, audio production, and instrumentation, including a string arrangement by Jonny Greenwood, performed by the London Contemporary Orchestra.

The breathy & toned down track is an continued meditation of Ocean’s struggles outlined in his public letter in 2012. Ocean seems to feel like he did with his first love. This time he seems to be able to examine his relationship in a deeper and more reciprocal way. Ocean said in the letter that he “struggled to master myself and my emotions” and this track indicates that he has since gained significant emotional progress. Instead of being unable to fully process his own feelings and connect with his lover, he can now ask instead what this person needs from him, while also retaining the “rush” of being in love.