The Shattering Honesty of Frank Ocean

Twitter is a complete disaster these days. The feed is always screwy and the trending tab rarely makes any sense but there is one thing that has stayed consistent about it. At least once a month Frank Ocean tops the discussion of all the music heads online for no reason at all. He hasn’t released any music since 2016’s Blonde, he hasn’t collaborated with anyone recently, and he never puts out a press releases or engagement on any of the social mediums. Outside of being spotted at a Tyler the Creator concert recently, the man is an absolute ghost, but like any ghost worth his salt, he continues to haunt the minds of his fans day in and day out.

Just what is it about Frank that drives people to the edge of madness waiting for the slightest hint of his resurrection? There are a few factors I think contribute to this unique phenomenon, the first of which being the most simple to understand; his music. It’s just really really good. I believe I mentioned in the past that I count his debut full length album Channel Orange as a perfect album from start to finish and his second album Blonde is another masterpiece with some stunning moments of experimentation that cross the line from just ‘music’ into a sonic mosaic worthy of any Modern Art exhibit. He effortlessly blends romance, regret, love, loss, self-doubt, happiness, depression, contentment with a musical landscape that can drift from the dance floor to the intimate corners of a sparsely attended café.

Vocally Frank is never off point. He may not have a voice as big as a parking lot but what he does have is infinitely more valuable than that; honesty. Every word spoken and sung on a Frank Ocean track is coming from a place that is so undeniably raw and stripped bare that it can be painful to witness, but is impossible not to resonate with. All this is to say that lyrically, he’s really unmatched. In Channel Orange each track from the heartbreaking ‘Thinkin Bout You,’ to the self-destructive narratives of ‘Super Rich Kids,’ ‘Crack Rock,’ and ‘Pyramids’ each track is like a short story with fully realized characters with full emotional realities and absolutely devastating levels of heartbreak. For my money Frank Ocean is hands down the best story teller in music currently(?) working.

Too many bottles of this wine we can't pronounce
Too many bowls of that green, no Lucky Charms
The maids come around too much
Parents ain't around enough
Too many joyrides in daddy's Jaguar
Too many white lies and white lines
Super rich kids with nothing but loose ends
Super rich kids with nothing but fake friends

Start my day up on the roof
There's nothing like this type of view
Point the clicker at the tube
I prefer expensive news
New car, new girl
New ice, new glass
New watch, good times, babe
It's good times, yeah

And then came Blonde which landed after many rumors, whispers and extended videos of staircase construction. To say the hype around this album was sky high would be a shameful cliché yet somehow, some way Frank managed to blow away all expectations out of the water. I think people expected a good album but I don’t think they expected one as complicated and beautiful as Blonde. It’s not as accessible as Channel Orange but it seemed like Frank decided to crack open his journal and go right to the pages that most people would lock away from prying eyes. Its a record that took me a few years to fully understand, knowing when I first listened that it was a singular and remarkable album but also that I wasn’t ready for it. It wasn’t until around 2020 that it clicked and I realized with the help of gorgeous tracks like ‘Ivy,’ ‘Pink + White,’ and ‘White Ferrari’ that it was just as masterful as Channel Orange even if it is a little more difficult.

I thought that I was dreamin' when you said you love me
The start of nothin'
I had no chance to prepare, I couldn't see you comin'
The start of nothin'
Ooh, I could hate you now
It's quite alright to hate me now
When we both know that deep down
The feeling still deep down is good

If I could see through walls
I could see you're faking
If you could see my thoughts
You would see our faces
Safe in my rental like an armored truck back then

Sheer quality alone is usually enough to give you a solid fanbase. You can name any number of musicians that have a loyal fanbase, but few of them are nearly as thirsty for more as Frank Ocean fans. Here is where we get to what I think is the key factor in the rabidity of his fans. It’s the Mystery. For as open and honest as his music and lyrics are, Frank is basically one step removed from a recluse and no artist has cultivated that so successfully since, perhaps, Prince. As I stated in the beginning, he doesn’t do a lot of press, his social media engagement is basically nothing, and if you catch him in an interview you might as well buy a lottery ticket that day because it’s truly a special one. He seems like a man who is reluctant to embrace the world of celebrity that everyone so desperately tries to force him into. That, intentionally or not, creates a living/breathing mystery.

Frank does what too few celebrities do, and he lets the art speak for itself. He doesn’t add context, he doesn’t explain the music, and he doesn’t explain himself. He just sets it all out on the floor and says, ‘This is what I got and I hope its enough.’ The thing is with Frank Ocean, it’s never enough. He’s truly a once in a lifetime artist. If Twitter crumbles tomorrow, people will still find ways to throw his name out in the atmosphere even when he hasn’t done anything.