Despite being 335 days late with his long-awaited, much-teased followup to 2012’s Channel Orange, Frank Ocean has retained an unswerving base of superfans. One of his most dedicated has sacrificed possibly even more time to the musician’s career than Ocean has himself, creating a Wakelet page brimming with Ocean guest verses, live performances, unreleased material, interviews, music videos, and more. The archive includes all the tracks off Channel Orange plus his 2011 Nostalgia Ultra mixtape and the Lonny Breaux mixtape he dropped under his former alter ego, as well as taking a deep dive into Ocean’s first name-making career as a writer for a number of popular R&B artists. As the archive’s creator notes, Ocean’s “Thinking About You” was written for Bridget Kelly before his own leaked demo version became even more popular than the original. His other noteworthy credits include Beyoncé’s “I Miss You,” James Blake’s “My Willing Heart,” and Justin Bieber’s “Bigger.”
For an elusive artist with only one studio album on his resume, Ocean’s impact on modern culture can hardly be underestimated. Even since going pretty much into hibernation, he’s occasionally resurfaced to make powerful, personal statements about everything from Prince’s death to the Paris terrorist attacks and LGBTQ hate crimes. We can’t wait to see what he adds to all this when Boys Don’t Cry finally drops as an album and print publication on Friday.
Credits
Text Hannah Ongley
Photography Todd Cole
Photography assistance Alex Aristei
Frank wears top French Connection. Chain model’s own.
[The Royalty Issue, No. 318, Spring 12]