Soulful crooner Frank Ocean has maintained a media silence of sorts since his truth-bearing letter rocked the industry in the most pronounced of ways nine days ago.
And why not? Already a relative recluse, the singer’s immense buzz mixed with resonance of his honesty has seen his ‘Channel Orange’ LP rocket to the top of charts, with predicted digital sales of over 100k.
However, keen to actually hit the promo trail on his own terms, Ocean chose quirky Zane Lowe from BBC Radio 1 to open up to about the events of the last two weeks and beyond.
Indeed, explained are the 24 year old’s reasons for pushing up the album’s release, his experience performing on Fallon, touring moving forward, and the creative process of recording the chart-topping set.
Check out the intriguing chat after the jump…
Insightful interview!
It’s clear Team Ocean aren’t looking to address the topic on the lips of many, which -as grating as it me be for some – is the best PR move for him pressing forward.
For, it keeps the spotlight on his incredible ability as songwriter; a skill which sees him relay the most fascinating of narratives – on his own terms. What’s more, it’s a practice which sets him apart from those who use certain audiences for contrived commercial gain.
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the album was nice. better than chris brown and usher albums. but this is such a stunt!
a promo INTERVIEW about THE ALBUM is a STUNT ? ok
I guess all gays can come out and get a hit cd. This cat is as fake and his team are as fake as a 3 dollar bill. What I see here is they are pushing gay artists so that the gay community buy. Target finally knows that ITunes can be bought.
I so love Frank’s music and I love that he is reclusive because it just give him mystery which a lot of entertainers need to also practice.It’s funny to see fans of other artists criticize Frank as if he is the reason your fave flopped.I love Frank’s vulnerability and that along with his talent makes his music great.It is just so good to see a real artist get some shine for once.
People who are jealous that their fave flopped are accusing Frank of using his sexuality to sell his project funny thing though,Frank never even addressed his sexuality,he only stated that his first love and perhaps the love of his life was man.
There may be people flocking to Frank that didn’t know of him because of his admission but it’s his TALENT that will impress them once they listen to him because truth is record labels don’t promote most artists.
Manly man are flocking for Frank women are to but not as many as the males. I wonder what his concerts will be like.
You don’t know who’s flocking to Frank because he have fans from all spectrums including many who are fans of Odd Future.Your problem is that you are jealous because he’s getting shine while your boy Chris lost even more of his fanbase.
maybe better than usher not chris brown fortune slay channel orange but channel orange is good but not on chris brown level be real
seriously? chris brown fortune wasnt even as good as fame. didnt sound like anything new or imaginative. it got terrible reviews and flopped. channel orange is better.
compare to chis brown fortune channel orange didn’t have that many songs that makes me want to replay over and over now chris brown has baseline, Mirage,Don’t Judge Me,2012,Biggest Fan and not to mention the sound that already out chris brown cd is the best r&B album release this year and channel orange is #2
I wonder why everyone must continue on comparing CB and Usher with this guy. They are international superstars. I guess Usher and CB is the best, so in order to make Frank Ocean bigger than he really is, comparing him to the top two R & B artist sales. There were so many other R & B artist who came out this year including R & Kelly and Trey Songz, and Neyo is coming out with an album in the next month of two. Whats with all this CB comparison on every blog with this guy. CB must be at the top, if he is the first person everyone talks about being better than.
Trey, Ne-yo and have not released their LPs yet. R.Kelly is kinda outta the loop really. I think it’s insulting to him to be compared to Chris. Frank is a genuine artist, makes real music. He doesnt have to rely on leaking nudes or autotune to sell
Honey Chris is no longer a superstar and he lost over half of his base from the last cd debut week….
WTF!! Fortune is so bad. With his fanbase, fortune’s sales are not good. all songs are alike and most sound like s*** and critics are not positive. this album is dead in one month. How could you compare cb wiyh fo. cb is a very good dancer, that’s all, he has not half the talent of singer, composer and songwritter of frank.. you compare the ease of originality. Brief, i suppose cb’s fans are preteen so i waste my time here.
No I am over 21 no preteen. If you read my comment, I was just asking why are people comparing Frank Ocean CD and sales against CB, he isn’t the only R & B artist out. Usher and R Kelly came out with an album two weeks ago. Trey Sonz is coming out in 3 weeks. I guess you compare the new guy against the top R & B artist in the game.
EXACTLY…
Frank is not only a very good singer and he can sing LIVE unlike Chris Brown and he is a phenomenal writer.
Chris Brown is not better than Usher,so please!
F*** u Chris Brown Fortune Is number1 in 22 countries lets c channel orange do the same!!!! Pus his a black b****** guy c*** he forget his roots he won’t b allow inafrican gay trash man get guck from behind eeerrrrk
INSTEAD OF WORRYING ABOUT HIS SEXUAL ORIENTATION U SHOULD BE MORE WORRIED ABOUT LEARNING HOW TO CONSTRUCT A PROPER PARAGRAPH
He could start with construction of a proper sentence first actually.
Your ass makes no sense lol.
his gay black people dont like that so f*** him
fortune best album of rnb this year
he is able to go to different countries and be himself im mean look at boy George,Elton John and they still have great careers so his SEXUAL ORIENTATION should not be the reason that people don’t love his music his personal life is his personal now his music is his job now so he will have his haters and people who love him
Exactly….
the devil is a LIAR
Such homophobia you reveal…
Honey are you struggling the possibility of you being gay? I say this because most people that are struggling often are the most venomous against gay people….
frank ocean cd is good but like i said before his cd is not better than chris brown fortune cd
exactly chris its waaaayyyyyy 100% better than that gay c***
LOL B**** TAKE A SEAT, YOU OBVIOUSLY DONT KNOW WHAT THE WORD INTEGRITY MEANS, YOUR DUMB FRANK WRITES HIS OWN SONGS CHRIS DONT WRITE NADA, YOU STRAIGHT C***
I bet if critics told you all to suck a A*** d*** yall would do it. lmao… Most of the critics criticized chris as a person, NOT THE ALBUM, f***** f******
i bet you both are born in the late 90s. atleast frank actually wrote most of his album, didnt make POP music. fortune FLOPPED and got trashed by critics. you team sleazy are mad that chris browns album was shite. FAME was better fortune was lackluster. channel orange is much better, and is getting amazing reviews.
nope i was born in the late 80’s not the 90’s is just what I believe u may have a different opinion but i went to the f.a.m.e tour last year and he did great and he was singing live and all chris brown album sold base on his music he was not doing interviews like he did on f.a.m.e so it would be clear that his first weeks sells was not gonna to be like f.a.m.e first week but one thing i can tell u is that he is selling worldwide not just us sales
his music is POP. not r&b. he barely had any input into the music. whereas frank composed and wrote his own album. and didnt make radio-friendly pop music to sell.
i never knock frank ocean wing skills but he is an R&B superstar where as chris brown is a superstar meaning he is given you more than just R&B songs he gives u rap songs pop songs dance track overall chris brown please everyone instead of only R&B fans which will make him a superstar not an R&B star like frank….. frank is in the same boat as trey songz which r R&B stars
but i thought fortune was an R&B album? lol fortune got 40/100 on metacritic. channel orange is getting 9.5/10 4/5 stars 5/5 stars etc. chris makes dance music to be safe and not flop because his r&b music is mediocre
YES it is. Compare their metacritic scores. Frank will most likely take home a grammy off his 1st LP. Something that took CB four cds to do
I bet if critics told you all to suck a A*** d*** yall would do it. lmao… Most of the critics criticized chris as a person, NOT THE ALBUM, people were so hyped about Frank & his announcement. And now he has the entire GAY community behind him
Frank is on another level of talent from Chris Brown in my view so I don’t even know why they are compared to one another….
chris brown is wayyy better
I like Both Chris and Frank, one is going with the current and the other is going high on Pliot Jones.
Frank is just on another level of talent, as the person stated ^^
Frank is for music lover(real music)25>
whereas chris is 25<
Lets be for real. We all know this was a publicity stunt for album sales. Funny he releases his bisexuality just days before his new album dropped, peaking the interest of ppl who may want to check out his music. Had he not pulled this stunt this album would be low on the radar of others and the charts. Frank knew what he was doing.
And the stunt worked. That really tell me that it’s all about him not the people that are buying it. These people ran out and download Frank CD on a publicity stunt lol. If his cd was so good than the music should speak for itself so why did he have to fool the people and push it up for sales then bragging about it on this radio station LMAO
To be honest, I heard of Frank Ocean like a yr ago, checked out his song “Novacane”, didnt like it. After his little revelation a lot of ppl I knew started to say “whose this guy, let me see what his music is like”. So yea, he knew what he was doin.
I hope he goes on Wendy. She would definitely ask the questions we really want to know?
Unheard excerpts from Frank Ocean’s B** interview:
B**: “So, Frank, was your ‘first love’ an actual “Maxima-driving Bisexual Black Man”?
FO: “Yes, that he was. We were both in love; on the DL.”
B**: “But Frank, what about the black women in your lives, wasn’t it a bit, at the very least, disingenuous – the lies?
FO: “Disingenuous are for sucka stf8 dudes – l like the taste of a man’s mouth and booty-hole.. A big, hairy, THICK, crunch-black thug dude.. YA DIG!!!
B**: “Mr. Ocean, there’s absolutely no need to get graphic about. After all, this is the B** and our sensibilities are quite refined and cultivated.
FO: “You right, yo! My bad. My bad.”
B**: “But Frank, what about those telling, sobering, and irrefutable ‘CDC numbers’: Gay/Bisexual Black Men are infecting black women with H** at ALARMING rates? Matter of a fact, the current H** rates for str8 black women are double that of str8 black men!”
FO: “You know, funny thing, Neyo and Uncle Fleece was telling me that I should be careful, you know? Oh, Neyo loves men too – dat’s my boy! Look, the way I see it, the jew-gays run the Media: Hollywood, and Madison Ave. As long as I have them and Oprah Winfrey, I’m good, you know?”
B**: “Uncle Fleece, Frank..??”
FO: “Oh, my bad, yea, ‘Fleece Johnson’ is my uncle on my mother’s side. He real cool! He da original booty warrior – dat’s my boy!!”
B**: “………………………………………………………..”
B**: “So Frank, these first week’s numbers (115-125k), given the amount buzz was…let’s be honest, they were…less-than spectacular.”
FO: “Oh, you mean how I’mma get back with R&B/Hip Hop community? Well, ‘the gays’ have ways of dealing with that, you know? Like I said, “WE” control the media! Look, you find me a camera and I’ll show you ’10 man-lovers’ within 10-yards of it. I don’t know what it is, we men lovers love the cameras/bright lights, you know?”
B**: “Frank, not to harp on the matter, but what about your critics who say that it’s YOU ‘dl’ bisexual/gay black men who are infecting innocent and unaware black women with H**?”
FO: “…..F*** them!”
B**: “…………………………………….”
(x,y,’and z’)
And that’s probably how dude feels. As long as these women buys his CD nothing else matters. Speaking of the gay community that will soon be short lived because he used being bi-sexual to sell his music and these people fell for it in the biggest way. He’s talking about leaks like he’s so big and some of the best artists cd leaked and they did very well in the long run. So this is b*******. After it went on Itunes it leak anyway. People are downloading the leak free CD of Frank Ocean online everywhere
alot of people don’t like how Frank Ocean came out the closet then drop his album on itunes, I going to say this these people on this and any other blog are saying that Frank’s album is better than other artists. Funny when these certain artists was to drop their albums people were outright saying that they was buying it because they did not like the other artist. Who are you fooling because you know and I know you was not buying s*** anyway. 8 out of 10 people who are buying Frank’s album are gay men anyway.
You are so clealy a f** its just silly. No straight man is concerned that deeply about gay d*** and gay s**. I bet you one of them fat f*** who never seen another dudes d*** so you’re pressed a frank who’s getting the BEST d***, ass, and p**** he wants. Stay mad.
Your crush on Chris Brown has got you going all kinds of crazy.I heard the interview yesterday and the host never even asked Frank anything about his sexuality and they were cool talking to one another…
Hes the type that’s only cute with a hair cut or when cleaned up or when his face is turned a certain angle lol
but I guess he really is trying to snatch the gay audience considering they are the main ones who’ll Stan for an artist & ride or die. He should have just let the music speak for itself , we didn’t need to know all of that, that’s why this seems so planned
the album was nice on its own, but in this day and age thats not enough. they needed something to get the general publics attention.
Channel Orange will win a Grammy that’s for sure. It has gotten rave reviews. Better reviews than any other male R&B artist this year.
Of course it will Jayz, Kanye, Beyonce is endorsing this guy. They are trying to build him up.
Yes he might just win a Grammy being Jay slowing dropping Rihanna’s drug ass.
He wrote Beyonce’s ‘I miss U” off her 4 album so I figured they would endorce Frank Ocean
Dead at people saying Chris Brown makes better music than Frank Ocean LMAO
The album is really great, obviously not for all publics cos it is not danceable and generic s***, but it´s great. His voice is more pleasant and warm than the people you are talking about
You still have to comprehend he is predicted to sell as many albums as Usher (who has always slayed USA charts) and Chris Brown, only with digital sales and being completely new, no matter if he got a buzz about his sexuality few days before. It´s still great and it speaks about the quality of his music
PRECISELY
Exactly…Frank’s cd is for real music lovers .It’s also not for people that don’t want think because he uses so many metaphors in his music,not the same generic mess.
Frank didn’t come out to sell albums. He came out and addressed the issue because a nosey ass blogger made a statement that his music suggested that he was gay. If people mind their business, this wouldn’t be the topic of discussion. As far as albums, Chris Brown is trash and his music sucks. That’s all.
i’m not a Chris Brown fan but what I really want to know is just weeks ago everybody was talking about buy Uaher’s my fav cd and h** he sings so much better than Chris. The question I would like to know being Usher has several hits out WHY weas his sales so low when every blog I went to said they was buying the best singer,entertainer in the industry Uaher whom had a lot of hype also. Also I don’t believe those ITunes sales when they iTunes pulled a fast one on Target with that payola s***.
Correction Usher Nanette spelled wrong. I’m on my blackberry
Sorry Usher’s name was spelled wrong
Letting the music speak for itself isnt always enough. There are many cd’s that go under the radar and are true gems, its a shame that everyone doesnt get to hear them. However if you are able to gain a buzz so that it opens peoples eyes to what you have to offer how can that be a bad thing? I have seen some people who have never heard of him say they checked him out after the whole sexuality headlines to see what the fuss was about and they really liked the cd. So thats a positive right?
No, it’s not positive. It just proves how disingenuous he actually is. Did Adele release her album on the heals of some kind of scandalous announcement? Will Frank sell as much as she did? This is all hype and all hype winds up getting stale.
Frank ocean album is everything
Great Beys think alike <3
You got that right
Im sick of everyone accsuing him of using his sexuality to sell. Maybe it put him on the map but people wont solely dl a whole album from a nobody cus of that. Dude’s material is brilliant. He deserves every ounce of success he gets. If people wanna buy his album just cause his gay, thats totally on them. I think yall are just jelly cus he stole your RnB favs’ thunder this summer
Whether he used it as a “stunt” or his team used it as a “stunt” time will tell. I do know the Target situation was definitely a “stunt” because Targets sell Adam Lambert, Elton John and others… so apparently he and his team thinks people are stupid and gullible. People really need to stop comparing Chris, Usher and Trey and Frank O. their music is different as a whole. Chris and Usher are performers and entertainers meaning the dances and sing. Frank and Trey do not. If you gonna compare they it would be Maxwell, Frank & Trey … Apparently the media cannot focus but on One Black Artist at a Time… Its amazing you never hear the White artist being compare in their jargon. The music industry and consumer are so fickle. No wonder R&B is dying.
YOU ARE SO RIGHT!
Thank You. Frank is on the line with John Legand, Maxwell, and R- Kelly. All of these artists have the same type sound to their music. More for mature audience. My mother & my grandmother who is almost 70 loves this type of music.
Franks game is to remain and enigma and not discuss the issue because 1) he will get more interview as people will want to be the first to get the truth, and 2) when he steps out with his new woman no-one will batt an eyelid.
I’m still finding the album okay. I think the media likes to jump on the next best thing and boost it up because they really have little knowledge of music, and i’m sure if i asked a music “professional” who KeKe Whyatt was they wouldn’t know, where a regular member of the public knows more (hence the varied reviews) Frank is like a Solange, and without the hype the sales wouldn’t of been that great. I’m awaiting Solange’s tactics now that she’s signed to roc nation
I bet if Frank was to go on Wendy Williams & Oprah they would ask about his being gay. Funny tho you don’t hear no more talk about him being gay lol. If he’s bi then a women seen with him in public no other man would want her unless they are bi also.
Frank’s music is great, but comparing to perfomers is just stupid and to be honest Frank hasn’t done enough for his name to be mensioned next to the likes of Usher, Chris Brown and dare I say it Trey Songz. We all have to admit that he won this round with the stunt but can he sustain it. Getting endorsement from all these huge industry players helped, They gave him the platform but I hope for his next album he does not resort to some publicity stunts he will actually let his music speak for itself.
The album is a solid effort but nowhere close to as monumental as people are making it out to be.
However given the state of current music, I guess it’s considered great?
Hi, my name is Frank Ocean, and since ‘the gays’ didn’t buy my album, I’m absolutely disgusted. And since I can no longer be R&B, nor Rap/Hip Hop, guess what? I’m so amped.. Well guess what-else? It’s time for “Down Low PAYBACK”: I’ve commanded my legions of ‘DL bisexual/gay black men’ to have even MORE s** with lonely, innocent, unsuspecting black women — H** FOR E-V-E-R-Y-B-O-D-Y…!!!
BEWARE ‘Single Black Woman’, if YOU thought the “Rainbow Was Enough”, you ain’t seeing NOTHIN’ yet! IT’S H** FOR YOU, YOU, YOU, AND ESPECIALLY YOU…..!!!!!
I’m sending my best “Jihadi H**-Rainbow BoodyWarriors” to your Cookouts, Family Reunions, Clubs, Malls, Public Libraries, Grade Schools, High Schools (we’re en massed at your collages, that’s where we’re infecting the black woman), Churches, even to your Sunday-Schools! They’ll be no “safety” for you! There will be “H**-booby traps” left on the sidewalks, in public bathroom stalls.. H** will fall from the night-skies… Frank Ocean will now drown you in fear!
Hi, my name is Frank, Frank Ocean, and since you’re all so “high and mighty”: H** will deliver you to me! There will be an inescapable, lingering, filthy death for you-all..
Hi, my name is Frank. I’m a gangsta and I ain’t never had to rob a bank. I’m down with that “DL H**”, I drink kerosene, and I drive a tank!
Hi, my name is Frank. H** is my game – Win, loose, or draw – I play for keeps!
Hi, my name is Frank.. And DEATH is my business. I wholesale it in my music and my clients are unsuspecting black women should they dare listen for a moment.
Hi, my name Frank – Lucifer’s first born! I’m an apex predator – “built for the kill”: I can smell lonely, unsuspecting, innocent black women and sell them my H** so fast: oasis-mirages in lonely urban-deserts!
Hi, my name is Frank, my H** comes straight from hell – there will be NO cure from/of me!
Hi, my name is Frank!
Hi, my name is Frank..!
Hi, my name is Frank…!!
Hi, my name is Frank….!!!
Hi, now YOUR name is Frank…
(x,y,’and z’ — out)
It’s ignorant of you to equate H** with gays . Unprotected s** of ANY kind is the main reason why it’s spread.You ought to be ashamed of yourself.
@Nacole re: July 13th, 11:29 pm —
R.I.F, even for you self-denying f**-h***!
S** with gay/bisexual black men accounts for the now skyrocketing H** transmission rates among black women.
..Matter of a fact, the 2009 H** infection rate for Black Women is more-than DOUBLE that of str8 Black men. Here are the numbers for 2009:
White MSM (gay/bisexual) – 11,400.
Black MSM – 10,800.
Latino MSM – 6,000.
Black str8 women – 5,400.
Black str8 men – 2,400.
Latina str8 women – 1,700.
White str8 women – 1,700.
Here’s the link, see for yourself: http://www.cdc.gov/h**/topics/aa/index.htm
So, just WHO are these black women being infected by? Logically, they’re being infected by the one group with the highest incidents of infections themselves: black gay/bisexual men: Frank Ocean and his Nissan Maxima-driving DL-first-love boy friends.. That’s who!!
X,Y,”and Z” — OUT..!!
This ass kissing @Virtuoso is getting on my nerves!! Why the f*** are u on every Frank ocean post, responding to any and everyone that doesn’t appreciate Franks music or sexuality? Back off, don’t force your opinion on them. Say how you feel and keep it MOVING. The s*** is annoying.
Agree
team SLEAZY are mad fortune flopped and sold HALF as much as fame did first week.
chris brown fans have no right to comment on franks publicity stunt, considering chris brown has had more publicity stunts in the last year than hes had hot dinners!
Your right this is the gay only post
I’m sick of hearing about Francine RIvers…
im a fan of him but this made me laugh!
HOT ASS MESS..
His song titles r downright weird lol
That’s the beauty of Frank because he is an individual not a follower….
There’s nothing on Channel Orange that captures the deathwish misery of “Swim Good” or the slacker sexiness of “Novacane,” but Frank Ocean’s debut LP is very enjoyable despite not scaling the pop-epic heights of his first hits. And if the heights aren’t so high, neither are the lows so punishingly boring as those on last year’s nostalgia, ULTRA EP. Channel Orange is a much more even piece of work, and much more enjoyable as an album. It will be interesting to see how it performs in an industry that’s geared towards $0.99 morsels rather than ten-dollar tapestries.
It opens with “Thinkin Bout You,” which has been available online for about a year now and helped cement the buzz Ocean had built with nostalgia, ULTRA and his features with the Odd Future goons. The track hasn’t gotten any more complex in that year, but it hasn’t lost its luster either. The throwaway interlude that follows it, “Fertilizer,” sounds like the theme to a discarded ’70s Sunday morning talk show. It’s a joke he probably could’ve fleshed out into a full song, as Ocean’s songwriting talent is perceptible even when he’s joking.
Frank’s got melodies to go, and even when his stories lose the cohesion and clever detailing of his best writing, it still makes for pleasant listening. When Channel Orange lets you down it’s the production. “Sierra Leone” isn’t particularly inspired songwriting, and it indulges the most scattered, vague impulses in Ocean’s style, but if it had a more interesting track to counterpoint the vocal it might work better.
By contrast, the album’s trio of standout tracks — “Sweet Life,” “Lost,” and “Bad Religion” — show how captivating beats elevate Frank Ocean to best-in-class status. Pharrell Williams co-wrote and co-produced the bubbling keys and bass of “Sweet Life” with Ocean. The song is really the first third of a beautiful little meditation on how money makes living well possible, but not certain. After a thematically related interlude you get the soulful pulse of “Super Rich Kids,” featuring Odd Future buzz baby Earl Sweatshirt. Earl’s verse is a mumbled, blurry thing, but listen to it closely and it’s a brilliant bit of lyricism. Where “Sweet Life” celebrated what money brings you, “Super Rich Kids” shows the boredom, loneliness and dysfunction that can come with having the world handed to you by successful absentee parents.
All this and you’re still only a third of the way through the record. There’s no sense in playing Rap Genius Thesaurus Bot on y’all trying to come up with adjectives for Ocean’s voice. You already know he’s got pipes. Like his falsetto steez? “Pilot Jones” got you covered. Like stripper anthems with historical trappings and dub step-inspired instrumentation? “Pyramids,” baby, that joint is a problem. Want to hear Frank play off a superior lyricist? The Three-Stacks feature on “Pink Matter” is here for you. And “Monks” is funky enough that you shouldn’t take too much of it at once.
But Channel Orange has a couple songs that invite discussion of where Ocean’s career is headed and what kind of artist he wants to be. For a guy who broke out based on the striking juxtaposition of his beautiful voice with the darkness of Odd Future cuts, “Crack Rock” is a particularly interesting statement. Its lyrics have narrative components, but it is mostly an abstract consideration of the plight of a crack addict. You could reduce its themes to something like “Crackheads have souls too, you know,” if you wanted to be a d*** about it. It’s the most direct address of a societal problem that Ocean has put out to date, but don’t let me oversell it as a P.S.A.– it’s also a solid piece of music. It’s not as fun a track as “Lost” or “Sweet Life,” and Ocean sounds sadder about his love life on “Thinkin Bout You” than he does about crack addiction here. But while he’s made many drugged-out tracks, none of them have been written quite like this. And it’s not the only recent reminder of the man’s literary qualities.
Ocean’s lovely, thoughtful note to fans explaining that his first love was a man was supposedly released before the album because journalists had noticed some male pronouns in interesting places on Channel Orange. “Bad Religion” and “Forrest Gump” are the tracks in question. The former is a haunting, organ-driven descent into Ocean’s struggle with himself. You should read BubbleMAMI’s piece about it at RapGenius (and while you’re at it, read Craig Jenkins on the dumb conclusions you shouldn’t draw about Frank’s sexuality). But mostly, you should listen to “Bad Religion” and “Forrest Gump” for yourself. The only man whose opinions on the matter are wholly valid is talking to you, and he’s got a lot to share. But if all you take away from Channel Orange is the chance to overscrutinize these two tracks for clues to how to label Frank, you’re missing a hell of a beautiful forest for just a couple of interesting trees.
Sometimes in pop music, an artist comes along who has the edge on everyone else, accessible enough for broad popularity yet operating in a pioneering realm closer to the avant-garde.
Frank Ocean is the man of the moment, and not just for his brave (in the macho world of hip hop) honesty about his sexual orientation. Musically, he is an ultra-smooth outlier possessed of a languid, seductive voice, bending soul, jazz, electro and contemporary R’n’B grooves into psychedelic shapes.
The 24-year-old from New Orleans has done stints creating tracks for artists as diverse as t*** idol Justin Bieber and soul man John Legend. His profile rose after hooking up with experimental LA hip-hop collective Odd Future, to whose wild rants Ocean brought a quality of poised class. Lately, his services have been much in demand by stars such as Beyoncé and Jay-Z. He has put out mixtapes and free downloads but the 17-track Channel Orange is his first full-length commercial release.
At times, Ocean’s dense, gorgeous debut evokes the musical bravura of prime Stevie Wonder, Prince and Kanye West, allied to the mad adventurousness of eccentrics like Björk or André 3000. The real miracle of the album, and a sign that Ocean is a talent for our times, is that he can embark on something as flamboyant as Pyramids – a 10-minute, tempo-shifting, minor-chord narrative of Egyptian queens and Las Vegas strippers, marrying Tangerine Dream sequencers and a jazzy John Mayer guitar solo to a rapturous slow jam – and make it all seem to make sense.
Channel Orange is as dazzling as it is baffling, rarely staying still long enough to get a grip on. This may be a drawback when it comes to scoring big hit singles, with only one track, the chugging Lost, really conforming to the kind of straightforward song construction favoured by radio. Yet, there has been a sea-change in mainstream pop of late, as the popularity of guitar rock has waned and the sound of blips and beats have become utterly dominant in the top 40.
This is Ocean’s genre, and he’s pushing it out into strange new places, from the dramatic, single chord piano stomp of Super Rich Kids to the spaced-out gospel confession of Bad Religion and the blissful, jazzy jigsaw of Sweet Life, which seems to assemble itself from disconnected elements as it goes along.
The album is awash with shifting synths and pulses of sound fused with minimalist, mid-tempo drum patterns, while Ocean’s sensuous, intimate singing holds everything together. There are enough ideas here for a dozen CDs, sure to inspire plenty of copycat versions of these inventive grooves from other artists trying to follow Ocean’s magical lead.
Download this: Pyramids
Conventional wisdom, in the post-out Anderson Cooper era, tells us a celebrity’s sexuality is no big whoop. If that were true, Frank Ocean’s press clipping file would be infinitely lighter than it must be by now.
Mr. Ocean – a singer/writer well-known to the music cognescenti but a total head-scratcher to everyone else – sent the Tur-verse spinning last week when he announced that his first lover shared his gender. While the press shook itself awake long enough to report Ocean as the first “hip-hop star” to “come out,” in fact, he’s an R&B singer who stopped short of declaring himself gay. (His representative confirmed this characterization.)
Either way, the announcement certainly rallied attention. Ocean’s major label debut went No. 1 on impact at iTunes. (The physical version hits stores Tuesday.)
It got a more mixed reaction in the hip-hop world. While high-profile stars like Russell Simmons quickly hailed his decision, the powerful hip-hop site Vlad TV has a comment section packed with the most hair-raisingly homophobic reactions you could imagine from anybody not associated with the Taliban.
That reaction does matter. On the hip-hop front, Ocean enjoys an association with the respected, underground rap collective Odd Future. And he has written for the vaunted Jay-Z/Kayne West collaboration, “Watch the Throne.” At the same time, he has penned songs for less macho types, like Beyonce and Justin Bieber.
Things get even more nuanced when you actually listen to the music. (Remember music?) In many songs on “Channel Orange,” Ocean’s major label debut, he serenades women with the convincing elan of a classic R&B loverman. Even his fleet falsetto has a conventionally masculine gait. While two songs can now be read as coded gay odes, he’s never entirely clear in his use of love-object pronouns. One such song, if interpreted a gay way, would have him lusting for “Forrest Gump” – no one’s idea of man candy. The truth is, without Ocean’s announcement, we’d never give these potential meanings a second’s thought.
So, for the moment, let’s not.
The most accurate antecedent for Ocean’s album would be Kanye West’s “808 & Heartbreak” and Kid Cudi’s “Man on the Moon.” Like them, it’s a synth-drenched soundscape, using antique synthesizers and trippy beats. It’s also got a bit of Erykah Badu-ism, in its mix of jazz-abstraction and R&B sensuality. The overall tone, and some of the lyrics, suggest their own subgenre: L.A. chill-out soul. It can make for some pretty sections, like the mellifluous “Sierra Leone,” or the pillowy “Sweet Life,” a collaboration with Pharrell Williams. But Ocean can also be indulgent. The CD features five short tracks of throw-away sonic pastiche.
Only a few cuts toughen the beat, including “Crack Rock,” with its propulsive organ, and “Lost,” which has some Prince-like funk. More often the mood mirrors a song like “Pyramids,” which drifts on for nearly 10 minutes, moving from soulful to spacey.
It’s surprising that an artist best-known as a writer would create an album that’s more about a vibe than formal songs. More, there are some lingering issues we have to deal with related to his sexuality. Yes, that again.
Given Ocean’s disclosure, it can be awkward to hear him sing so often of women. After all, he’s not an actor assuming a role. His songs are meant to be autobiographical. And perhaps they are. Listeners should expand their minds far enough into the pan-sexual realm to go with that thinking. Those who do will discover music that’s hardly as headline-making as its advance press, but which, at its best, sounds pleasingly dreamy.
nydailynews.com
BEYONCE Knowles (pix) has shown her support for Frank Ocean after he revealed his sexuality.
The ‘Single Ladies’ hitmaker posted a photo of the 24-year-old singer/songwriter – who revealed last week that his first love was a man – on her official blog, Beyonce.com, and added a poem superimposed over the image.
The text reads: “Be fearless. Be honest. Be generous. Be brave. Be poetic. Be open. Be free. Be yourself. Be in love. Be happy. Be inspiration.”
It’s not the first time Beyonce – whose latest album, ‘4’, contains a track written by Frank entitled ‘I Miss You’ – has spoken out in support of lesbian, gay and bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community after previously insisting she has always had a “connection” with her homosexual fans.
She said: “I’ve always had a connection. Most of my audience is actually women and my gay fans, and I’ve seen a lot of the younger boys kind of grow up to my music. It’s great when I’m able to do the meet and greets, because I’m able to really connect and have conversations.
“People look at some of the artists that I admire – like Diana Ross and Cher – and they identity that glamour with Sasha Fierce, and I’ve been really inspired by the language. I have my (gay) stylists and my makeup artist, and all of their stories and the slang words I always put it in my music. We inspire each other. Like I said, we’re one.” – Bang Media
Stop acting like Frank’s music speaks for itself. His album is being propelled by stunts and gimmicks. His music isn’t the #1 thing being discussed about him; you know it, I know it and he knows it. As far as sincerity goes, he’s no better than Katy Perry. If he hadn’t unleashed that punk ass letter, none of us would even be talking about him and his album would be performing about as well as one by Leela James.
Another day, another F***** Frank Ocean post. I see Sam is all giddy cause he found another gay ass b**** n**** to identify with.