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Jan.21.2022 

Understanding Who Frank Ocean Is   

Introduction

Christopher Edwin Breaux most known as Frank Ocean is a mysterious music artist who keeps his life very personal and secretive. He keeps the fans wanting to know more not just about his personal life but his music as well. The last time he dropped an album to this day was August 2, 2016.  But there is still a lot to appreciate from him as an artist that feels as if he forgot about his fan base. 

  Early life 

Born in Long Beach, California Christopher and his family moved to New Orleans at the age of 5. When Christopher was six, his father left him and his family with nothing left behind. His grandfather took the father figure spot in his life and was introduced to a car magazine by his grandfather and grew his love for cars which are very reliable to his music with songs like White Ferrari and using an orange BMW as his album cover for Nostalgia Ultra. He moved to college in 2005 in which he went to the University of New Orleans where he wanted to major in English and only after 5 days of him moving in hurricane Katrina hit. He packed his bags and with only $1,100 he moved to LA. 

The beginning 

After moving to LA with only such little money he worked in places like Starbucks and UPS. He met connections through the music industry and started to ghostwrite for artists like Justin Biber, Pharrell William, and Beyonce. He met Tyler, The Creator, and was asked to join the music group Odd Future (OFWGKTA).  He helped grow the group but was always an outsider as he was not mainly a rapper and stuck more to R&B.  He was loved by the music industry by artists like Kanye West and Jay-Z. 

Debut Mixtape 

Nostalgia Ultra was released on February 16, 2011. He dropped it as an independent artist  His songs were mainly about his social life and his past relationships in life. He sampled a few songs from artists like MGMT and Coldplay. His album was with many variations of genres like jazz and r&b. The album was not highly rated but it was for sure known and noticed by other artists in the music industry  A few of my favorites are Strawberry Swing and Nature Feels. 

Channel Orange 

He was then given a contract by Def Jam records although he wasn't appreciated much by them he still had a contract of two albums. Channel Orange was his first-ever official album, he was helped by Pharrell William. In this album, you can get a very nostalgic sound and feeling when listening to this album and honestly all albums. But what was different with this album was that it blew away people with songs like Pink Matter with Andre 3000 Pyramids,  Crack Rock, and his most loved out of this album Thinkin Bout You. Which became famous over a Vine that changed the lyrics and became the famous vine “ A potato flew around my room” blew the song up. This album was mainly about his experiences with L.S.D  no I’m not talking about the psychedelic drug but his experiences with love, sex, and drugs. He won his first-ever Grammy as The Best Urban Album of 2012. 

The next 3 years  

With only 15 interviews from 2011-2012, he was still shy and very personal about his life as fans wanted to discover more. Rumors were spread in between his lines in songs and had people confused on who he was talking about if it was about his relationships with women… or men?  He was interviewed by GQ and was asked “Do you consider yourself bisexual ?” In which he replied, “ You can move on to the next question.” Days later he released a tumbler letter, In which he explained his first love and how it wasn’t with a woman but a man. “I met somebody. I was 19 years old. He was too. We spent that summer, and the summer after, together. Almost every day.” He official came out and explained how difficult it was since he was dating a woman at the time he met this man. He felt as if his fans needed an explanation on his album. Many people appreciated the explanation and were loved as one of the few gay black artists to come out at the time. After that, it took 3 years for his next album as he was having difficulties with his record label. 

The industry scandal 

As part of his deal with Def Jam, he was going to drop an Apple Music exclusive. Def Jam was not helping him and supporting him in his ideas of music.  On August 1st, 2016 he released a live stream of 140 hours on Apple music and it was a video of him building stairs and snippets of his album Endless. He was officially out of his contract with Def Jam after playing a whole chess game with them and winning. The next day he dropped his most honorable album Blonde as an independent artist. And made the biggest music scandal to date. Saving himself $20,000,000. 

Blonde 

On August 2nd, 2016 he dropped his biggest album to date. He was called up for the Grammys as Best album of the year and many more. But he rejected the invitation as he was interviewed by New York Times and was asked why he did not go, Frank believed that it was a corrupted system and was dated. After the release, he did not do a concert tour and rejected all interviews except for NY Times. He went completely ghost and to this day he has not dropped a single album. He has worked with artists like Travis Scott, ASAP Rocky, and Tyler, The Creator. If I had to pick a top song from this album I won't be able to choose. This album is about love and heartbreaks. How we must move on from loved ones we had at the time but must move on and accept the things we learned from them. Some of my favorites are Nikes, Nights, Ivy, and Futura Free.  

Why I Love Frank Ocean

 There are many reasons why I love this artist not just because of his music but because of his personality and fashion style. But of course, you can not love Frank Ocean without loving his music. A reason why I love Frank Ocean musically is that I feel as if he is an artist I can relate to especially now when at times I feel lonely after ending a 3-year relationship with my first ever love. We listened to Frank Ocean together and had pleasing moments together. Another reason why my past relationship matters to the love I have for Frank Ocean was because she loved Tyler, The Creator and as I mentioned before they were part of the same music group Odd Future. A song I can relate to from him as a single man is White Ferrari  I fell in love with a woman that was older than me and at the time I wanted to have a relationship with someone. This song describes me perfectly right now as I was only 14 at the time and she was 16. I am now 17 years old and she is 19. I cherish all the memories we had together and my love for her is still there. Obviously not the same as a person should have with someone to be committed to. But we agreed to be friends and as Ocean said in his lyrics. 

 I care for you still and I will forever

That was my part of the deal, honest

We got so familiar 

We promised one another we still talk and be friends after the break-up and made a deal. But things did not go the way we planned and that’s okay. 

 If you think about it it'll be over in no time

And that's life

I'm sure we're taller in another dimension

You say we're small and not worth the mention

……….

…………

Can't take what's been given

But we're so okay here, we're doing fine

This part of the song was very understanding to me but was very hard to deal with at the time. At this moment I feel lonely but I know I have loved ones especially in school where my friends are my second family and love them so much. But yet when I am alone I feel unappreciated and not loved. 

Thank you for whom it may concern. Thank you for taking your time to read this fully if you have. I want to say thank you to a friend who gave me the idea to write this, we were never close before until senior year of high school. I appreciate her for being by my side when I need it the most she may not understand how much it means to me. As we are soon going to college I hope she never forgets who I am and remembers the small moments we had together. Much love and listen to Frank Ocean when you are high. You’re welcome :) 

I'll be the boyfriend in your wet dreams tonight

#frank ocean #blog #blond #blonde #boys don't cry