August 1st, 2016: A mysterious livestream hosted by Apple Music appears on Ocean’s website. July 2nd, 2016: A post appears on Ocean’s Tumblr titled “Late.” The image shows a due-date slip for a library book with a string of dates, the last one being July 2016. You could probably talk to almost anybody involved in that record and I’m not sure anybody would be able to tell you what’s happening.” “I can’t because I don’t know any,” Blake said. May 2016: Singer/songwriter James Blake, who had worked with Ocean previously, touches on new Ocean material in an interview with Entertainment Weekly. February 11th, 2016: Ocean makes his first public appearance in a year, by attending a listening party for Kayne West’s album The Life of Pablo, on which Ocean is featured. Anticipation atrophied into anguish as Ocean promptly disappeared once again. April 6th, 2015: Ocean posts a photo of himself on his Tumblr with the caption “#july2015 #igottwoversions”. After the channel ORANGE boom in 2012, the collective question: what’s next?. What transpired in this timeframe is a clinic in, purposefully or not, teasing the masses: Riding the wave of two successful albums, major collaborations, and awards, many wondered what was next for Ocean but only he knew: sustained silence.įrom 2012 through 2015, Ocean slid into reclusion. In 2012 he released his second record in channel ORANGE, which peaked at #2 on the Billboard Top 200 chart and earned Ocean a Grammy for “Best Urban Contemporary Album.”įor Ocean, things were at an all-time high. On the heels of nostalgia, ULTRA Ocean skyrocketed to the top of the R&B game, soon working with top level stars such as Beyonce, Jay Z and Kayne West. But with the help of some artist friends in the industry, nostalgia, ULTRA quickly gained traction on social media and became a swift-albeit slightly underground-critical success. This was a risky move for the relatively unknown young artist, going against the grain so early in his career. The release had no promotion, no videos or singles, no marketing and no backing from his record label. FRANK OCEAN CHANNEL ORANGE DOWNLOAD ZIP FILE ZIP FILE
He took matters into his own hands and released his first record entitled nostalgia, ULTRA through a free ZIP file download on his personal Tumblr page. He had signed a recording contract two years prior with Island/Def Jam Records but felt as if they were never going to feature him. The year is 2011 and Ocean is creatively stuck.
The media campaign and promotion for his new record Blonde might have everything we’re not used to as consumers, but the results can lead us to one thing: to share less and create better. While this situation may seem off-kilter, this was the past 17 months in the life of the avant-garde R&B singer Frank Ocean. Imagine a scenario where a musician announces a new record, misses multiple release dates, disappears from the public eye and remains silent for over a year….and then abruptly releases two records in a 24-hour span that hit the top of the charts. Culture Crush Art Can Wait: The Frank Ocean Complexĭesigner Geoff Stump dishes on the exhilarating (and exhausting) saga that led up to Frank Ocean’s Blonde
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