One of 2011’s most celebrated lyricist, Frank Ocean, lands his first official solo magazine cover in the form of The Fader’s Fall Fashion Issue. Ocean’s claim to fame is this year’s imaginative ‘nostalgia, ULTRA’. The singer’s first single, ‘Novacane’, has peaked at No. 17 on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop songs chart and cracked Billboard Hot 100. The in demand artist, also makes not one, but two appearances on one of the most anticipated releases this year, Jay-Z & Kanye West’s ‘Watch The Throne’. Check out an excerpt from the full feature below.
When he was nine, Frank Ocean’s godfather subscribed him to Robb Report, a magazine for the ultra-rich. Less interested in fiduciary smarts, it’s a catalog of conspicuous consumption, highlighting tropical vacations, invaluable antiques and, as Ocean came to know, really expensive cars. Though he comes from a middle class family, he obsessively read the magazine’s classified ads, fixating on exorbitantly priced used Bentleys and Maybachs. “I would just fall in love with all their cars. That was the start.” Ocean, whowas born Christopher Breaux (and goes by Lonny to friends), downscaled his material desires, and when he was 13, began going door-to-door, detailing cars for cash. “I would bring all my supplies. Literally, it was like a movie, I had a wagon, those long red wagons, like a Radio Flyer-type wagon, and I used to buy my own soaps.”
