Frank Ocean

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Christopher Francis "Frank" Ocean (* 28. October 1987 in Long Beach , California as Christopher Edwin Breaux ) is an American singer-songwriter , Contemporary R & B - musician , rapper , record producer and photographer , who is also a songwriter for other artists appears. In the latter role, he is also listed as Lonny Breaux at times. In addition to his work as a solo artist, he is also known as a member of the music collective Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All , or Odd Future or OFWGKTA for short .

Initially only working as a ghostwriter , Ocean had his breakthrough with his debut release Nostalgia, Ultra , and the single Novacane that was released from it . In the meantime, two more solo albums, a compilation and a visual album have been released. Despite the variety in style and sound, all of these releases were critically and commercially successful and have won various prizes, including the Grammy Award .

life and career

Childhood and youth

Frank Ocean was born Christopher Breaux on October 28, 1987 in Long Beach , California , and moved to New Orleans , Louisiana , at the age of five and a half . His family had previously moved several times. When Ocean was six years old, his father left the family without prior notice after abusing and humiliating a waitress in front of his child for being transsexual . The loss of a father figure, and in particular this situation, was later a theme of Ocean's songs. Inspired by his mother, he already pursued the goal of becoming a musician as a child and subsequently took on various tasks in the neighborhood in order to be able to finance a recording studio .

2005–2010: Start of career and acquaintance with Odd Future

By March 2006, Ocean grew up in his hometown of New Orleans and began studying at the University of New Orleans shortly before he moved , before Hurricane Katrina hit his hometown in August 2005. Since the recording studio in which he was working on his music at the time was robbed and destroyed by flood water after the hurricane and its equipment was ruined, further recordings were no longer possible, so in March 2006 he drove to Los Angeles with his girlfriend at the time and has lived there ever since. Originally, he would have only wanted to stay in town for six weeks to record a few songs in a friend's recording studio that he had already composed in New Orleans. At the beginning of his career in Los Angeles, before his breakthrough as a musician, he worked in 13 different jobs, as he was usually fired again after a short time. The reason for this was that he often spent his time in recording studios until the early hours of the morning, so that he would appear late for work afterwards.

Ocean first became known to a wider audience in 2008 as a songwriter for other artists. Back then, he and other composers wrote the song 1st & Love for contemporary R&B singer and Grammy winner Brandy . A few months earlier, at the age of 19, he had his first minor success with the first sale of a song he had co-composed. It was I Fell , which the R&B singer Noel Gourdin recorded for his 2008 album After My Time . Together with the producer Dapo Torimiro and John Legend himself, he also wrote the piece of music Quickly in 2008 , which was released on his album Evolver in October . In 2009 he and other songwriters composed the title Bigger from the debut release of the Canadian musician Justin Bieber . According to Ocean's own statements, these activities were used to establish and develop contacts with music producers and other people in the field of music.

At the end of 2009, Ocean met the hip-hop group Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All , which has been in existence since 2007 and is largely known under the name Odd Future and consists of twelve men, most of whom are three to four years younger than Ocean himself. He got to know the group around front man and rapper Tyler, the Creator , whose members all come from the Los Angeles catchment area , through mutual friends and has been a member of Odd Future himself since then . Also towards the end of 2009 he signed his first recording contract with Def Jam Recordings , which was officially valid from the following January. Ocean came to this contract through Christopher "Tricky" Stewart , whom he had met through his work as a songwriter. Stewart, who was doing an A&R at The Island Def Jam Music Group at the time, heard some demo recordings from Ocean and eventually convinced him of a career as a singer. In various interviews, Ocean later said that until his success with the mixtape Nostalgia, ULTRA , released in February 2011 . had no ties to his record company and was ignored by them. The relationship is now intact.

In March 2011 it was announced that Frank Ocean, whose maiden name is actually Christopher Edwin Breaux , had officially changed his name to Christopher Francis Ocean via the LegalZoom website on his 23rd birthday in October . He justified his decision by saying that nobody is defined by his name and the change would have just felt good for him.

2011 to date: Debut as a solo artist and first collaboration with Odd Future

Frank Ocean (2011)

On February 18th, 2011 the mixtape nostalgia, ULTRA was released. which was his first ever release. He released it without the help of his record label Def Jam Recordings as the relationship was chilly at the time. The mixtape was highly praised by critics, with the website Metacritic, for example , achieving a Metascore of 83 out of a total of 100 possible points. The score was based on nine different reviews of the publication. After the success of the mixtape, the relationship between Ocean and his record label improved for the better, and hip-hop musicians and Grammy Award winners Kanye West , Lupe Fiasco and Nas were enthusiastic about the singer. The British daily The Guardian later chose the publication as third in their list of the best albums of 2011. In the editorial team of Complex magazine, she was honored with fourth in the list of best albums and second in the mixtapes category. In March, the band Eagles made an official statement that Ocean would be sued if he performed the song American Wedding live in front of an audience. The piece of music that appears on his mixtape nostalgia, ULTRA. contains a sample of the song Hotel California . Since it was speculated in the media that due to the non-commercial nature of the mixtape no illegality could be recognized, Ocean also took this point of view. In March, Ocean worked with contemporary R&B singer Beyoncé Knowles on a song for their fourth studio album 4 . It was the title I Miss You .

Frank Ocean at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in California in April 2012

In April the group Odd Future founded their own record label, to which Ocean has been under contract alongside Def Jam Recordings since then . A little later, in May, Ocean released the song Novacane, the first single from his mixtape, which reached number 82 on the Billboard Hot 100 . A second single, which was called Swim Good , did not reach the chart. In the same month a commercial re-release of the mixtape was announced, which should include seven songs as an EP and will be called Nostalgia Lite . Later, for unknown reasons, this plan was abandoned and the Extended Play was not released. Over the summer, Ocean announced they would be working with Kanye West and Jay-Z on new music for their collaboration album, Watch the Throne . Ultimately, when the CD was released in August 2011, he was involved in two songs as a guest musician. After playing a few concerts in the USA and Europe in November, he was voted second in the forecast for the future in January 2012 in the influential Sound of ... forecast by the British television broadcaster BBC . He was only beaten by the soul singer Michael Kiwanuka beaten.

In March 2012 the debut album by Odd Future , which was called The OF Tape Vol. 2 , was released. It was the group’s first publication that Ocean was a member of. It reached number five on the Billboard 200 and ranked 40th in the UK. Subsequently, Ocean devoted himself more and more to his debut album, which was called Channel Orange and was released on July 10, 2012 as a download in the USA, from July 17 it was also available on CD. The album reached number two in England and the USA and entered number 47 in Germany. On April 17th, the first single Thinkin Bout You was released , which reached number 72 in the USA. The second single was called Pyramids and was released in June but did not get into the Billboard Hot 100 . The third single Sweet Life was released on July 6th.

On August 20, 2016, his second album, Blonde , was released after four years .

Musical style

Poetry and songwriting

Ocean began his career as a songwriter for other artists such as John Legend , Brandy and Justin Bieber , which he doesn't like to talk about in interviews. He regards this time only as a starting point for his later musical path and does not want to boast about past things as it is not an essential aspect in his career. He also attaches great importance to not influencing the listeners of his music through external influences, but prefers it when they approach his works and the works of other artists in a completely impartial manner.

In addition to his work as a songwriter, Ocean is known for a pictorially accurate rendering of his lyrics. For this reason, the metaphor can be recognized as the most important stylistic device in Ocean song lyrics. He himself described the writing process as a visualization of every single line of a song text. With this technique he tries to convey the message of a piece of music he has composed precisely. The content of his lyrics is mainly inspired by his own experiences, so that all lyrics have a connection to real events.

Another special feature of Ocean's music is the sometimes confusing genre information that he uses to characterize his music. For his debut mixtape nostalgia, ULTRA. he used, for example, the music genres bluegrass and death metal as an indication, although it could rather be described by the label Contemporary R&B . As a reason for these actions, he cited that it should not matter to him or to other people which musical genre an album is assigned to.

Music production

In his career so far, Ocean has also appeared as a music producer , even if he only takes on this function for songs in which he himself participated as a singer. In an interview, he described himself as a traditional producer who does not create beats , but rather receives them from friends and acquaintances and then uses them. Since he had worked as a songwriter at the beginning of his career, he now resorted to the experiences and acquaintances he had gathered there, because he pursued the goal of working on his music alone and not being granted any outside help.

Private life

At the beginning of July 2012, Ocean published an open letter on his blog on the Tumblr platform , the content of which was originally intended for the booklet of his debut album Channel Orange . Previously, after an event for media representatives at which some songs from the upcoming album could be heard, rumors arose about the singer's sexuality, as he played in some pieces of music such as Bad Religion , Pink Matter and Forrest Gump , which mainly deal with the topic of love. Used words that clearly suggest a man as a life partner. With the help of the letter, Ocean explained his experiences from the summer when he was 19 years old. In it he wrote that he fell in love with a man of the same age, whom he later described as his first love. He described his situation at the time and the insights into his feelings as hopeless and insidious, as he had seen no way out. Although his boyfriend at the time did not reciprocate the feelings, Ocean questioned his previous relationships with women and referred to the memories as a language I did not yet understand.

After the announcement of his bisexuality , many colleagues from Ocean, including Tyler, the Creator or 50 Cent , said positive about him and praised him for his openness. Music and fashion entrepreneur Russell Simmons wrote a short congratulatory article to Ocean for the Global Grind website, describing his admission as a big day for hip-hop music . The editors of the German hip-hop magazine Juice said in an article that Ocean's private life was actually meaningless. However, since Ocean is " the first successful and extremely relevant representative of the hip-hop and R'n'B scene to come out", his commitment is almost the same as a " paradigm shift ".

Trivia

In January 2013, Ocean got into an argument with singer Chris Brown over a parking lot in Los Angeles . The parking lot was in front of a Hollywood recording studio . The Los Angeles Police Department stated that Brown had been questioned, because Brown had struck Ocean.

Discography

For publication with the group Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All see also: Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All # discography

Albums

  • nostalgia, ULTRA. : (February 16, 2011; Mixtape)
  • Channel Orange (July 10, 2012)
  • Endless (August 19, 2016; video album)
  • Blonde (August 20, 2016)

Singles

  • She (May 10, 2011; Tyler, the Creator feat. Frank Ocean)
  • Novacane (May 31, 2011)
  • Swim Good (June 16, 2011)
  • No Church in the Wild (March 20, 2012; Jay-Z & Kanye West feat. Frank Ocean)
  • Thinkin Bout You (April 17, 2012)
  • Pyramids (June 7, 2012)
  • Sweet Life (July 6, 2012)
  • Lost (December 17, 2012)
  • Nikes (August 20, 2016)
  • Chanel (March 10, 2017)
  • Biking (April 8, 2017; Frank Ocean feat. Jay-Z & Tyler, the Creator )
  • Lens (April 23, 2017)
  • Biking (Solo) (May 16, 2017)
  • Provider (August 28, 2017)
  • Moon River (February 14, 2018)
  • DHL (October 19, 2019)
  • In My Room (November 2, 2019)

Awards and nominations

  • GQ
    • "Rookie of the Year"
  • BET Hip Hop Awards 2011
    • "Best Mixtape" for nostalgia, ULTRA. (Nomination)
    • "Rookie of the Year" (nomination)
  • Grammis
    • "International Album of the Year" for nostalgia, ULTRA. (Nomination)
  • Q Awards
    • "Q's Best New Thing" (nomination)

swell

  1. ↑ We welcome Frank Ocean! . universal-music.de. June 21, 2012. Archived from the original on December 24, 2015. Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved July 6, 2012. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.universal-music.de
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g Nadeska Alexis: Odd Future's Frank Ocean Does Not Make R&B . blackbookmag.com. April 21, 2011. Archived from the original on June 9, 2012. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved July 5, 2012. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.blackbookmag.com
  3. ^ Frank Ocean: Frank Ocean Preza 555 . frankocean.tumblr.com. 2016. Retrieved on May 1, 2018.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / frankocean.tumblr.com
  4. ↑ a b c d Ian Youngs: Sound of 2012: Frank Ocean . bbc.co.uk. January 5, 2012. Retrieved July 4, 2012.
  5. ↑ a b c Ernest Baker: Who Is Frank Ocean? - Moving from New Orleans to Los Angeles . complex.com. March 18, 2011. Retrieved July 4, 2012.
  6. ^ A b Frank Ocean Gets Up Close in iD Magazine . rap-up.com. March 23, 2012. Retrieved July 4, 2012.
  7. ↑ a b c d e f g Ernest Baker: Who Is Frank Ocean? - Writing for Himself, Others, and Production . complex.com. March 18, 2011. Retrieved July 4, 2012.
  8. ↑ Ernest Baker: Who Is Frank Ocean? - Relationship with Odd Future . complex.com. March 18, 2011. Retrieved July 5, 2012.
  9. ↑ a b c Ernest Baker: Who Is Frank Ocean? - Being Signed to Def Jam . complex.com. March 18, 2011. Retrieved July 5, 2012.
  10. ↑ Ernest Baker: Who Is Frank Ocean? - He's Related To Billy Ocean? . complex.com. March 18, 2011. Retrieved July 5, 2012.
  11. ^ Nostalgia, Ultra. - Frank Ocean . metacritic.com. Retrieved July 6, 2012.
  12. ↑ Caleb Rockwell: Frank Ocean Prepares To Join On European Tour With Coldplay . hiphopmusicc.com. March 27, 2012. Accessed on July 6, 2012.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.hiphopmusicc.com  
  13. ↑ SICK ALBUM: Frank Ocean - Nostalgia / ULTRA . therapsociety.wordpress.com. February 26, 2011. Retrieved July 6, 2012.
  14. ↑ Tim Jonze: Best albums of 2011, No 3: Frank Ocean - Nostalgia, Ultra . guardian.co.uk. December 14, 2011. Retrieved July 6, 2012.
  15. ↑ Insanul Ahmed, Brendan Frederick, Ernest Baker, Julian Pereira, Rob Kenner: The 25 Best Albums of 2011 - # 4. Frank Ocean, nostalgia / ULTRA . complex.com. December 19, 2011. Retrieved July 6, 2012.
  16. ↑ Alex Gale: The 25 Best Mixtapes of 2011 - 2. Frank Ocean Nostalgia, Ultra . complex.com. December 25, 2011. Retrieved July 6, 2012.
  17. ↑ Ryan J .: Is Frank Ocean Facing Legal Trouble For “Nostalgia, Ultra” Song? . smokingsection.uproxx.com. March 2, 2012. Archived from the original on March 6, 2012. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved July 6, 2012. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / smokingsection.uproxx.com
  18. ↑ Jenn Pelly: Frank Ocean Vs. the Eagles: The Plot Thickens . pitchfork.com. March 1, 2012. Retrieved July 6, 2012.
  19. ^ Gabriel Alvarez: Beyoncé: Mighty Fly (2011 Cover Story & Gallery) . complex.com. July 19, 2011. Retrieved July 6, 2012.
  20. ^ Rob Markman: Odd Future Record Deal Is Complete, Manager Confirms . mtv.com. April 26, 2011. Retrieved July 6, 2012.
  21. ↑ Alex Young: Frank Ocean's Nostalgia, Ultra to be released by Def Jam . consequenceofsound.net. May 19, 2011. Retrieved July 6, 2012.
  22. ^ Claire Lobenfeld: Frank Ocean Will Not Release Nostalgia, Lite . thefader.com. March 19, 2012. Retrieved July 6, 2012.
  23. ↑ Kanye & Jay-Z Confirm 'Watch The Throne' Release Date . mtv.co.uk. July 19, 2011. Retrieved July 6, 2012.
  24. ↑ Ernest Baker: Who Is Frank Ocean? - Influence of Relationships on Music . complex.com. March 18, 2011. Retrieved July 7, 2012.
  25. ↑ Ernest Baker: Who Is Frank Ocean? - Genre boundaries . complex.com. March 18, 2011. Retrieved July 7, 2012.
  26. ↑ * UPDATE * Blind Item Revealed: Rising R&B Star Frank Ocean Pens Letter Admitting That His First Love Was A Man! . bossip.com. July 3, 2012. Retrieved July 6, 2012.
  27. ↑ Frank Ocean opens up on sexuality . wcvb.com. Retrieved on July 6, 2012.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.wcvb.com  
  28. ↑ * UPDATE * Blind Item Revealed: Rising R&B Star Frank Ocean Pens Letter Admitting That His First Love Was A Man! . bossip.com. July 3, 2012. Retrieved July 6, 2012.
  29. ↑ Russel Simmons: The Courage Of Frank Ocean Just Changed The Game! by Russell Simmons . globalgrind.com. July 4, 2012. Retrieved July 6, 2012.
  30. ↑ Juice.de: Thank you, Frank Ocean. Retrieved July 11, 2012 .
  31. ↑ Chris Brown 'suspect' in fight over parking space. Retrieved August 23, 2016 .
  32. ↑ Amos Barshad: Frank Ocean - Rookie . gq.com. 2011. Retrieved September 7, 2012.
  33. ↑ Lindsay Powers: Lil Wayne Leads BET Hip Hop Awards Nominations With 18 . hollywoodreporter.com. August 9, 2011. Retrieved September 7, 2012.
  34. ↑ 2011 BET Hip Hop Award Winners . fashionably-early.com. October 11, 2011. Retrieved February 4, 2012.
  35. ↑ Justin Joseph: Centric Announces 2011 Soul Train Awards Nominees, Chris Brown Leads With 5 Nominations . blogs.centrictv.com. October 20, 2011. Retrieved January 10, 2012.
  36. ↑ Justin Joseph: SOUL TRAIN AWARDS 2011 WINNERS . blogs.centrictv.com. November 27, 2011. Retrieved January 10, 2012.
  37. ↑ Nominerade Grammis 2012 . grammis.se. December 19, 2011. Retrieved September 7, 2012.
  38. ↑ Vinnare Grammis 2012 . grammis.se. February 14, 2012. Retrieved September 7, 2012.
  39. ↑ Sean Michaels: Drake and Rihanna Lead MTV Video Music Awards Nominations . hereisthecity.com. August 2, 2012. Retrieved August 2, 2012.
  40. ↑ Felicitas Winter: MTV Video Music Awards 2012: The winners and losers . de.omg.yahoo.com. September 7, 2012. Retrieved September 7, 2012.
  41. ↑ Blur, Stone Roses To Battle It Out With Lady Gaga For Q Awards Best Act - Plus Full List Of Nominations . huffingtonpost.co.uk. September 6, 2012. Retrieved September 7, 2012.
  42. ↑ Rhonda Nicole: Just Announced: The 2012 Soul Train Awards Nominees . soultrain.com. September 19, 2012. Retrieved October 4, 2012.

Web links

Commons : Frank Ocean  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Ocean, Frank
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Breaux, Christopher Edwin (maiden name); Ocean, Christopher Francis (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American R&B musician
DATE OF BIRTH October 28, 1987
PLACE OF BIRTH Long Beach , California , United States