Frank Ocean

**Frank Ocean** (born **Christopher Breaux** October 28, 1987), is an American singer-songwriter and rapper. Ocean started his career as a ghostwriter for artists such as Damienn Jones, John Legend, Justin Bieber, and Brandy.

In 2010, he became a member of alternative hip hop collective OFWGKTA also known as Odd Future, and his debut mixtape,*Nostalgia, Ultra*, was released to critical acclaim in 2011. The singles "Novacane" and "Swim Good" both achieved chart success. In 2012, Ocean finished second place in the BBC's Sound of 2012 poll. His debut studio album, *Channel Orange*, was released in July 2012 to critical acclaim and was promoted with three charting singles: "Thinkin Bout You", "Pyramids", and "Sweet Life".

Ocean became one of the first major African-American music artists to announce that he had once fallen in love with someone of the same sex, notable because that music scene is known for homophobia. Ocean's music has been characterized by music writers as idiosyncratic in style.

## Early life

Ocean was born Christopher "Lonny" Breaux on October 28, 1987, in Long Beach, California to parents Calvin Edward Cooksey and Katonya Breaux Riley. When he was around five years old, he and his family moved to New Orleans, Louisiana.

He grew up around its local jazz scene and listened to his mother's CDs on her car stereo, including albums by Celine Dion, Anita Baker, and *The Phantom of the Opera*soundtrack. As a teenager, he did neighborhood chores and saved up money to rent studio time. As he recalled, "Oh man I had numerous hustles [...] Washing cars was one of them, and mowing lawns and walking dogs." He enrolled in the University of New Orleans and moved into its dormitory in 2005. Shortly after enrolling in the university,Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans and he transferred to the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.

## Career

### 2005–11: Beginnings in Los Angeles and mixtape[edit]

In 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit Ocean's hometown of New Orleans and his recording facility was destroyed by floodwater and looting. To continue recording music, he moved to Los Angeles and intended to stay for just six weeks but decided to stay longer and develop his music career after establishing contact with people in the music industry. He recorded some demos at a friend's studio and shopped them around Los Angeles. After getting a songwriting deal, he started working with other record producers and wrote songs for artists such as Justin Bieber, John Legend, Brandy, and Beyoncé. Ocean later said of his work at the time, "There was a point where I was composing for other people, and it might have been comfy to continue to do that and enjoy that income stream and the anonymity. But that's not why I moved away from school and away from family." He has also worked with artists such as Nas and Pharrell Williams. Ocean joined Los Angeles-based hip hop collective Odd Future, whom he had met in 2009. His friendship with Odd Future member Tyler, The Creator reinvigorated Ocean's songwriting. In late 2009, he met Tricky Stewart, who helped him sign a contract with Def Jam Recordings as a solo artist.

On February 18, 2011, Ocean released his first mixtape, *Nostalgia, Ultra*, to critical acclaim. The mixtape focuses on interpersonal relationships, personal reflection and social commentary. NPR's Andrew Noz said Ocean's songwriting is "smart and subtle...setting him apart from the pack." *Rolling Stone* magazine's Jonah Weiner wrote that Ocean was a "gifted avant-R&B smoothie". In April 2011, Ocean stated that his relationship with Def Jam strengthened since the release of the mixtape. The mixtape made Ocean widely known and led to his collaborations with rappers Jay-Z and Kanye West. Ocean first appeared in Tyler, The Creator's music video for the single "She", from Tyler's second studio album *Goblin* (2011). His first performance was in collaboration with Odd Future at the 2011 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, where he later joined them for their first tour across the east coast of the United States. On May 19, 2011 Ocean's record label Def Jam announced its plans to re-release *Nostalgia, Ultra* as an EP. The single 'Novacane' was released to iTunes in May 2011, and the EP originally was set to be released the next month, but was delayed.

In June 2011, Ocean revealed that he would work on the upcoming Kanye West and Jay-Z collaborative album, *Watch the Throne*. Ocean co-wrote and featured on two tracks: "No Church in the Wild" and "Made in America". On July 28, 2011, a song titled "Thinkin Bout You", leaked on the internet. It was later revealed the song was areference track, written by Ocean, for Roc Nation artist Bridget Kelly's debut studio album. Kelly renamed the song 'Thinking About Forever'. In September 2011, a music video directed by High5Collective for Ocean's version was released, yet the song still appeared on Kelly's debut EP *Every Girl*. In August 2011, Frank Ocean made his first appearance on the cover of the publication The FADER, in its 75th issue.

### 2012–14: Debut album

Ocean released the cover art for his debut studio album's lead single, titled "Thinkin Bout You", revealing the song would be released to digital retailers on April 10, 2012. However, a month earlier, a re-mastered version of the song had already leaked. About the prospective single he said: "It succinctly defines me as an artist for where I am right now and that was the aim," he said of the follow-up to his acclaimed *Nostalgia, Ultra*. "It's about the stories. If I write 14 stories that I love, then the next step is to get the environment of music around it to best envelop the story and all kinds of sonic goodness."

In 2012, Ocean released his debut studio album *Channel Orange* to universal acclaim from critics, who later named it the best album of the year in the HMV's Poll of Polls. It also earned Ocean six Grammy Award nominations and was credited by some writers for moving the R&B genre in a different, more challenging direction. Considered as Ocean's first commercial release on a traditional record label, *Channel Orange* featured unconventional songs that were noted for their storytelling and social commentary, and a dense musical fusion that drew on hip hop, soul, and R&B. The songs about unrequited love in particular received the most attention, partly because of Ocean's announcement prior to the album's release, when he revealed that his first love was a man. The announcement made global headlines, and some critics compared its cultural impact to when David Bowie revealed that he was bisexual in 1972.

*Channel Orange* debuted at number two on the *Billboard* 200 and sold 131,000 copies in its first week. The majority of its first-week sales were digital copies from iTunes, while approximately 3,000 of the sales were physical copies. On January 30, *Channel Orange* was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). By September 2014, it had sold 621,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Ocean promoted the album with his 2012 Summer Tour, which featured final appearances at the Coachella and Lollapalooza festivals.

On May 28, 2013, Ocean announced the You're Not Dead... 2013 Tour; a fourteen-date European and Canadian tour that began on June 16, 2013, in Munich. He had been scheduled to perform at the first night of OVO Fest on August 4, 2013; however he was forced to cancel his appearance due to a small vocal cord injury. The first night of the music festival was subsequently cancelled and James Blake was booked to appear during the second night as Ocean's replacement. Ocean appears on John Mayer's album *Paradise Valley*, as a featured artist on a song called "Wildfire".

### 2015: Second studio album

In February 2013, Ocean confirmed that he had started work on his second studio album, which he confirmed would be another concept album. He revealed that he was working with Tyler, the Creator, Pharrell Williams, and Danger Mouse on the record. He later stated that he was being influenced by The Beach Boys and The Beatles. He stated he was interested in collaborating with Tame Impala and King Krule and that he would record part of the album in Bora Bora.

On 10 March 2014, the song "Hero" was made available for free download on SoundCloud. The song is a collaboration with Mick Jones, Paul Simonon and Diplo and is a part ofConverse's Three Artists. One Song series.

In April 2014, Ocean stated that his second album was nearly finished. In June,callaborated with Damienn jones *Billboard* reported that the singer was working with a string of artists such as Happy Perez (whom he worked with on *nostalgia,ULTRA.*), Charlie Gambetta and Kevin Ristro, while producers Hit-Boy, Rodney Jerkins and Danger Mouse are also said to be on board. On November 29, 2014, Ocean released a snippet of a new song supposedly from his upcoming follow-up to *channel ORANGE* called "Memrise" on his official Tumblr page. *The Guardian* described the song as: "...a song which affirms that despite reportedly changing labels and management, he has maintained both his experimentation and sense of melancholy in the intervening years...".[63] On 6 April 2015, Ocean announced that his follow-up to *channel ORANGE* would be released in July, as well as a publication, although no further details where released. The album is rumoured to be called *Boys Don't Cry*, and is slated to feature the aforementioned "Memrise".

## Artistry

Ocean's music has been characterized by music writers as idiosyncratic in style. Ocean generally plays theelectronic keyboard, and is backed by a subdued rhythm section in the production. His compositions are oftenmidtempo, feature unconventional melodies, and they occasionally have an experimental song structure. In his songwriting, Jon Pareles of *The New York Times* observes "open echoes of self-guided, innovative R&B songwriters likePrince, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Maxwell, Erykah Badu and particularly R. Kelly and his way of writing melodies that hover between speech and song, asymmetrical and syncopated." While *nostalgia, ULTRA* featured both original music by Ocean and tracks relying on sampled melodies, *channel ORANGE* showcased Ocean as the primary musical composer, of which music journalist Robert Christgau opines, "when he's the sole composer Ocean resists making a show of himself—resists the dope hook, the smart tempo, the transcendent falsetto itself."

Ocean's lyrics deal with themes of love, longing, misgiving, and nostalgia. His debut single "Novacane" juxtaposes the numbness and artificiality of a sexual relationship with that of mainstream radio, while "Voodoo" merges themes of spirituality and sexuality, and is an eccentric take on such subject matter common in R&B.[67] The latter song was released by Ocean on his Tumblr account and references both the traditional spiritual "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands" and the female anatomy in its chorus: "she's got the whole wide world in her juicy fruit / he's got the whole wide world in his pants / he wrapped the whole wide world in a wedding band / then put the whole wide world on her hands / she's got the whole wide world in her hands / he's got the whole wide world in his hands." Certain songs on *channel ORANGE* allude to Ocean's experience with unrequited love. Culture critic Nelson George asserts that, along with Miguel, Ocean has "staked out ground where not competing with those hit-driven [commercial R&B] acts" and is "cultivating a sound that balances adult concerns with a sense of young men trying to understand their own desires (an apt description of Ocean, particularly)."

Ocean describes himself as "a baritone, with tenor moments." Jody Rosen of *Rolling Stone* calls him a torch singer due to "his feel for romantic tragedy, unfurling in slow-boiling ballads". Ocean's stage presence during live shows is often low-key.

## Personal life

On March 14, 2014, he changed his name to Christopher Francis Ocean through a legal website. The change was reportedly partly inspired by the 1960 film *Ocean's 11*. In November 2014, TMZ revealed that the name change has not been legalized. The name change, however, had been in progress. On April 23, 2015, Ocean successfully changed his birth name to Frank Ocean.

Ocean wrote an open letter, initially intended for the liner notes on *Channel Orange*, that preemptively addressed speculation about his same-sex attraction. Instead, on July 4, 2012, he published an open letter on his Tumblr blog recounting unrequited feelings he had for another young man when he was 19 years old, citing it as his first true love. He used the blog to thank the man for his influence, and also thanked his mother and other friends, saying "I don't know what happens now, and that's alrite. I don't have any secrets I need kept anymore...I feel like a free man."

Celebrity couple Beyoncé and Jay-Z showed support for Ocean following his announcement. Members of the hip hop industry generally responded positively to the announcement.

Russell Simmons, a business magnate in the hip hop industry, wrote a congratulatory article in *Global Grind* saying "Today is a big day for hip-hop. It is a day that will define who we really are. How compassionate will we be? How loving can we be? How inclusive are we? [...] Your decision to go public about your sexual orientation gives hope and light to so many young people still living in fear." Tyler, The Creator also tweeted his support for Ocean, along with other members of OFWGKTA.

On December 31, 2012, Ocean was pulled over in Mono County, California for speeding. In a search police officers found a few grams of marijuana. He was cited for possession, driving on a suspended license and having tinted windows.

## Controversies

Ocean sampled the music from The Eagles' song "Hotel California" on his song "American Wedding" from *Nostalgia, Ultra*. When asked about it, Ocean stated that Eagles band member "Don Henley is apparently intimidated by my rendition of 'Hotel California'. He threatened to sue if I perform it again." In response to Ocean's comments, The Eagles legal representative released a statement: "Frank Ocean did not merely 'sample' a portion of the Eagles' 'Hotel California,' he took the whole master track, plus the song's existing melody, and replaced the lyrics with his own. This is not creative, let alone 'intimidating.' It's illegal. For the record, Don Henley has not threatened or instituted any legal action against Frank Ocean, although the Eagles are now considering whether they should." Chris Richards of *The Washington Post* remarked that "certain boomers don't like [Ocean] as much" as "information-age babies" due to the controversy.

In January 2013, Ocean got into an altercation with Chris Brown over a parking space, outside a recording studio in West Hollywood. Police officers in Los Angeles said Brown was under investigation, describing the incident as "battery" due to Brown punching Ocean. Ocean said he would not press charges despite the fact that Brown had threatened to shoot him, and one of Brown's entourage had called him a homophobic slur. Ocean then criticized Brown in the song "Sunday", from Earl Sweatshirt's album *Doris*.

On March 7, 2014, Chipotle Mexican Grill sued Ocean to receive the money back they paid him in advance for a commercial that Ocean backed out of due to Ocean having a problem with the material in the advertisement. The advertisement was to feature Ocean singing the song Pure Imagination, and was to promote sustainable farming. Ocean backed out of the spot when Chipotle refused to remove their logo and name from the advertisement.

## Discography

Main article: Frank Ocean discography

* *nostalgia,ULTRA.* (2011)
* *channel ORANGE* (2012)

## Awards and nominations

Ocean and his music have received international recognition with many award nominations and wins. As of February 2013, he won two Grammys, a Soul Train and UK MusicAward. In addition, he earned accolades from *GQ*, *NME*, and *Vibe* magazines, as well as the BBC and mtvU.

### MTV Video Music Awards

 Best Male Video
 Best New Artist

## Official Account

* Frank Ocean on Twitter
* Frank Ocean on Facebook
* Frank Ocean on Instagram
* Frank Ocean on Insstar.com
* Frank Ocean on Instagweb.com
* Frank Ocean on Buzzcent.com
* Frank Ocean on Insstars.com
* Frank Ocean on Photostags.com