Claim: Frank Ocean released the single Novacane, his debut and first charting one.

`` Novacane '' is the debut single by American singer Frank Ocean . It was released as the lead single from his mixtape Nostalgia , Ultra . The song was written by Ocean , Tricky Stewart and Victor Alexander , and produced by Stewart . Lyrically , the song narrates a tale of a young female dental student who makes a living doing porn and who recreationally uses local anesthetic drugs that she acquires from her place of study . The song explores themes of isolation , loneliness and a lack of feeling caused by numbness . The song received highly positive reviews from music critics and was listed as one of the best songs of the year by publications such as The New York Times , Spin , Ology , Zimbio and Pitchfork . Reviews praised the dark subject matter of the song , and praised Ocean 's ability to create narratives and the sonic atmosphere of the track .   When Nostalgia , Ultra was expected to be released as an EP by Def Jam , `` Novacane '' was released as the first single , though the EP release was later cancelled . The song peaked at number 82 on the Billboard Hot 100 and entered the top 10 on the Heatseekers Songs chart . The song received a music video directed by Australian director Nabil Elderkin released on June 16 . The highly stylized video shows a long take of Ocean sitting around in a darkly lit room . Ocean performed the song during a show in New York City with alternative hip hop group OFWGKTA , and during his seven show tour through North America and Europe . It was also performed during his 14 show North American tour in support of his debut studio album , Channel Orange .