Frank Ocean’s Start

Frank Ocean has made his mark in most people’s playlists. His unique genre is unlike that of any R&B artist, and he is self-taught. In 2010, Frank Ocean lost his studio to Hurricane Katrina, so he moved to California to start again. Frank Ocean taught himself music education that college can’t even provide, making him as unique as he is. Frank Ocean tried to get signed by Def Jam, but they weren’t interested. He decided to join an underground group of artists, Odd Future. It was full of 13 kids just doing chaotic stuff, while half of them pursued a music career. Tyler, the Creator, was the founder of Odd Future and made collective albums with music from each artist. Frank didn’t make too much music, but everyone saw his potential. 

Frank’s Musical Journey

In February of 2011, Frank released an EP titled “nostalgia, ULTRA.” People loved the EP, leading to a huge following and many fans listening to his music daily. In 2012, he then released his first full studio album, “channel ORANGE”. People fell in love with the album; it debuted on Billboard’s charts, reaching the number 2 spot on the albums chart.  Frank Ocean used his newfound success to get a million-dollar deal with Def Jam. He would only surface for different tracks from 2013 to 2016, and purchased the rights to his own catalog. To fulfil his contract with Def Jam, Frank released Endless, a livestream concept work, which would release him from the major label. Endless wasn’t a full album; it was more of a segment to his next project, Blonde, paired with a magazine titled “Boys Don’t Cry”. But what Frank Ocean did confused everyone, since he made the contract with Def Jam Records, he has been planning something. You see, contracts with Def Jam Records mean they take a portion of the profits. Frank was just using them to get his music out there, but during all this, he was making his own record deal, where he kept all the profits from his albums and his singles; he made it so a big label wouldn’t manipulate him. Making music that is loved to this day more than the debut, breaking free from the problem of record deals, and hitting Billboard charts for every album.

Channel ORANGE

channel ORANGE doesn’t have much of a story; there have been many theories about what it’s about, but many still don’t know. The best theory I’ve heard is that channel ORANGE is about Frank going through love told through television. Some of the songs end with the sound of different channels switching. As little as there is on story, this album was huge for Frank Ocean. “nostalgia, ULTRA.” was fairly popular, but that just started his journey. channel ORANGE was the kick Frank needed to become one of the big names in the R&B industry. With it not being as big as Blonde, Frank still did great on producing this album. And Frank Ocean produces all of his music himself.

Blonde

Blonde is Frank Ocean’s second self-produced album, which explores his love life in his teenage years, with a clever idea running throughout. The beginning of Blonde is about Frank meeting his cousin’s friend, who has feelings for his cousin, but his cousin does not feel the same. When Frank meets his cousin’s friend, Frank falls in love with her, and near the end of the song, Frank says, “We’ll let you guys prophecy.” speaking to the listener to let them think about what’s gonna happen in the album. The album is divided by four interludes, each of which transitions to different parts of a year in the story. The first 3 songs (Nikes, Ivy, Pink + White)  represent spring, the interlude Be Yourself transitions the album to summer, with the songs Solo, Skyline To, and Self Control all taking place in the summer portion of the album, and the interlude Good Guy transitions to fall. The songs keep going with three songs, then an interlude, but in the next song of the album(nights)m, at the halfway pont of the song, which is also the halfway point of the album, which makes it the night side of the album, before the songs were about how much he loves the girl who was his cousin’s friend, and that he was always positive talking about her, but she doesnt love him as much back, and the night version talks about how shes not worth frank and its the more realistic side of the album., after fall, it transitions to winter, and the songs in winter are about the 5 steps of grievance, the last song is a long 10 minute song ending the beautifully put together album. The album hit No. 1 on Billboard charts upon debut. Like channel ORANGE, the album was a huge success, sending Frank down a path of huge success. Every song is worth every second. I can listen to the whole album without skipping a single song, and so many people can agree. But Frank had a bump in the road.

Singles and Features

It was normal for Frank to release singles now and then; his discography is primarily singles, multiple hitting billboards, and some are separate releases of songs from an EP. His most popular single is Novacane, and some singles are early releases of a song from an album. Frank Ocean has been on many songs in the Hip-Hop, Rap, and R&B communities, primarily being on Tyler, the Creator’s songs since they were so close, still showing up on other artists’ songs like A$AP Rocky, or Kanye West.

Frank’s Disappearance

Frank Ocean did the same as usual, made a few singles, then an album, but in 2020, Frank Ocean made a single, as usual, but on August 2nd of 2020, Frank Ocean’s younger brother, Ryan Breaux, died in a fatal car crash. After this happened, Frank Ocean disappeared; he stopped producing music, and he was never active on any social platform. Later, Tyler, the Creator, unfollowed him on Twitter/X, and neither said anything about this. Frank Ocean has only had around 3 known sightings in Tokyo. This wasn’t a retirement, nor a break; this was a Grievance. 

“I miss Frank so much, and I’m so sad that he disappeared,” said Zachary Sumerix (9)

“He got slimed out,” said Anthony Delgado (h)

 The FRANK Posters

Frank Ocean was gone; this wasn’t just a small break. People thought this was the end. As of now, it’s been 5 years since Frank Ocean last released any form of music, other than a single snippet. People are gaining hope that Frank will possibly release music again, due to posters in Tokyo, which provided a QR code, and when you scan it, it takes you to an Instagram account that has a profile picture similar to Frank Ocean’s brand logo, Blonded. Is this a sign from Frank? Hinting at an album? Is Frank coming back? That is something that the future holds, but until then, people will listen to Frank Ocean on repeat and hope he comes back.

Rest in Peace, Ryan Breaux

September 1, 2001 – August 2nd, 2020