Frank Ocean: How An Accomplished Writer Became A Reclusive Superstar

[Music] founder city round-the-clock everybody needs you [Music] we do not evaluate I first heard a Frank Ocean with his hit single swim good I'm thinking about you a tornado flew around my room before you came excuse the mess I made I love those two tracks but I didn't really dive into his music until I heard the song nights [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] we can hide out oh god you should mention is Nikhil no I invited to love up my 28th 1998 my family had directly I remember being so moved by the track that I was curious what the rest of the album sounded like I gave blonde to listen and it became one of my favorite albums of the year since then I've listened to oceans entire body of work which is a surprisingly small catalogue for an artist as renowned as he is for his famous his ocean is I was struck by how little I knew about him ocean is an artist that intentionally avoids the spotlight I never hear about him unless it's news about an occasional collaboration or a paparazzi shot perhaps his mysterious and this is part of what makes him so intriguing so I was curious to find out who really is Frank Ocean what's his story [Music] wanna fill in on it it just six years old Frank's father left without explanation Frank moved with his mother from Long Beach California to New Orleans where he lived until he was almost 18 his grandfather Lionel essentially became his father and is the reason that young Christopher bro was known as Lonnie growing up ocean spent most of its time alone whether it was climbing onto rooftops listening to music with his headphones on or reading he didn't stick with team sports because his friend put it I didn't enjoy things I can envision myself being the best at when Frank Ocean was 9 his Godfather's subscribed him to rob report a magazine for the ultra-rich it's a catalogue filled with vacation destinations homes and really expensive cars Frank obsessively read the magazine fixating on outrageously priced Bentleys and Maybachs this sparked his lifelong love for cars which has been a constant theme in his work forever [Music] good and Ocean was initially drawn to music because he thought it could be an avenue for getting a different set of opportunities ocean enrolled at the university of new orleans to study english in the fall of 2005 but against his mother's wishes he went deeper into making music when Katrina hit in August 2005 ocean decided to move to LA so with only eleven hundred dollars in this pocket he drove cross-country to properly record the demos he'd been working on it when ocean first came to LA his money ran out before he ever came close to getting his record done to support himself he worked at Subway at Fatburger Kinkos 18t and as a claims processor at all-state eventually he discovered that he could make money writing songs for other people ocean connected with producers and musicians who submitted tracks for major label artists ocean helped write lyrics and melodies contributing to songs that would eventually be recorded by artists like Justin Bieber brandy and John Legend in time he caught the attention of tricky Stewart the producer behind hits like Rihanna's Umbrella and Beyonce's single ladies Stewart helped ocean get signed by Def Jam as a solo artist at the end of 2009 however Def Jam never gave him a recording budget and basically left him on the shelf around this time Frank met Tyler the creator and the rest of Odd Future with the support of odd future ocean decided to write and produce a record on his own a mixtape called nostalgia ultra like that bad bad like that he'll add that data down the mixtape quickly blew up and received widespread acclaim from critics it caught the attention of Kanye West so we invited ocean to write and sing on two songs off watch the throne with no church in the wild and made in America Beyonce was also a big fan of the mixtape I was in the car and my husband was playing this this music in this guy's tone and his lyrics just touched me and after one song I said okay who is that because I want him on a flight tonight and he told me it was Frank Ocean and I immediately reached out and he came in the next day and we did like five or six songs and he is just so humble such a nice person really really talented very fast he just has so many ideas and it's great because he's an artist and I can't wait for everyone to hear him because he's just the truth following the success of his mixtape ocean sat down with BBC and one of his only video interviews to date what inspires me to make music is I guess I'm just inspired to tell stories and you got to make sure the listeners listening to you and so if you put it in the form of a song oftentimes if the if the song is striking enough then you can really deliver the story you know most effectively while keeping the ear the listener the whole time so you know I guess it all starts with the stories for me as I future impacted my career um absolutely absolutely Iran liberated my thinking and in some ways creative creatively in in a sense of annoying that you can do a lot of it by yourself you know not just the songs but just taking control of your whole movement I think we all change each other's paths you know I don't know which which which law idea that is in physics but I don't think I don't think any of us can live without affecting one another you know um not to be broad but it's true I think I think I've been affected my path has been changed and affected by everybody who I've encountered in my life [Music] Oshin told Def Jam if they wanted another album he wanted $1,000,000 and complete freedom with the creation of his next record they forked over the money and Frank got to work he wrote all the songs for his next project in just three weeks and refined them for the next nine months on July 10 2012 Frank officially released his first studio album channel orange the album became an instant classic it received widespread critical acclaim and was named the best album of 2012 by numerous publications ocean earned nomination for several Grammys yeah this Grammy goes to freak out [Applause] crack crack crack rock quack-quack-quack drugs are a main theme of this record but oceans true concern is the mingling of love and loneliness the euphoria and pain that results from losing yourself in something or someone as ocean put it chemical substances aren't the only things intoxicating he mentions love power money freedom and honesty and it's telling that he includes honesty because just weeks before channel oranges release French shared an open letter on tumblr revealing that his first love was with a man Oshin said releasing that letter probably had the same effect on me as heroin does on some people yes of course [Music] how'd you feel [Music] so at this point Frank Ocean had already cemented himself as a cultural icon when an artist receives this type of praise this quickly they usually become more vocal and egotistical but Frank is different for almost four years he essentially disappeared [Music] for his next project ocean flew across the pond to London he bounced around hotels until he moved into a furnished apartment that he eventually stripped of everything but a few essentials while ocean was chasing a perfect feeling sound he was trying to regain control of his business relationships he replaced his management lawyer and publicist and he began negotiations to free himself from his contract with Def Jam ocean used his own money to buy himself out of his contract and purchased back all his master recordings as a condition of the arrangement he said Def Jam took on distribution of his next project endless which is available only as a streaming video album on Apple music two days later came a huge surprise ocean independently released his second studio album blonde [Music] this album is very introspective ocean tells stories about childhood family life and romantic relationships blonde received widespread acclaim from critics and many people consider it the best album of 2016 the Grammys reached out to his representatives but ocean chose not to submit for consideration stating that the Grammys aren't representing very well for people who come from where I come from I think Frank Ocean is what I want music to be a true raw expression of emotion just like his music ocean is often ambiguous he's been able to create and maintain a level of mystery that's hard to come by in the Internet era I think you'd be foolish for me to try to characterize him or predict what his next moves will be with Ocean nothing is sure except one thing he was meant to make music it's just really about trying to do whatever it is I do at a level of excellence and that's really all I'm trying to do while I'm here [Music] even Justin I you got someone coming it's been a game oh you got it [Music]

Channel: Soulr

Views: 1,502,242

Keywords: #FrankOcean, #FrankOceanVideoEssay, #FrankOceanBiography, #FrankOceanInterview, #FrankOceanDocumentary, #WhoIsFrankOcean, #FrankOceanReclusiveSuperstar, #TheStoryOfFrankOcean, #Soulr

Id: 2Vo26nRGDIw

Length: 12min 52sec (772 seconds)

Published: Fri Jun 08 2018