The Frank Ocean thread

[refujiunderground]

Ironically Franks new CD drops July 17th....Big SURPRISE on that one....

this. sounds like he did it for the publicity and you pretty much hit the nail on the head. it sounds like frank is just coming clean. his past actions may not dictate his future actions. it might have been a one time thing.

i agree with what you said lex about him helping closet guys like me come out but sometimes, i question if some of these people come out for the greater good of other people or if they just do it for other reasons such as attention or whatever else. coming out is basically a life changing experience. once you come out, you can't go back in. it's one of those blood in, blood out things.

 

[MisterMajestic]

One thing we all know is that you gotta be careful when you choose a Celebrity as a role-Model..Celebrities change according to the DEMANDS of their career...

Elton John is a Celeb with a good coming out Story...

Ricky Martin is another one..

CNN Anchor Don Lemon is another one.

Wanda Sykes is another one...

Even Anderson Cooper is another one....

Frank Ocean hasnt confirmed anything to anybody...And he might not talk about it any further...That is his choice...We'll see...

Does Frank deserve Praise for talking about a past Love affair with a Man or should he be given a simple high-Five?

Frank is intelligent enough to put his thoughts and gift @ songwriting on Paper...I wanna see if he's able to step out of the recording studio, put down his cell and stop tweeting his personal Shit and address ALL of this to the Public LIVE....He got what he wanted Via Social Networking and through the Mainstream Media weeks before his CD is due...

Now I wanna see if he's gonna stand by anything he's disclosed about his past....I'm sure Babs Walters would LOVE to do a 20/20 segment on him...

 

[bankside]

Okay so I listened to a song of his called Sweet Life. I found it listenable though not something I would buy - a little sappy and emo.

Also I learned that apparently there is a "Black Beverley Hills" called "Ladera Heights" and I read the history of it. I don't even know where to start with that one. The idea of colour-coded neighbourhoods just doesn't compute, especially happening in the 1970s.

 

[refujiunderground]

One thing we all know is that you gotta be careful when you choose a Celebrity as a role-Model..Celebrities change according to the DEMANDS of their career...

Elton John is a Celeb with a good coming out Story...

Ricky Martin is another one..

CNN Anchor Don Lemon is another one.

Wanda Sykes is another one...

Even Anderson Cooper is another one....

Frank Ocean hasnt confirmed anything to anybody...And he might not talk about it any further...That is his choice...We'll see...

Does Frank deserve Praise for talking about a past Love affair with a Man or should he be given a simple high-Five?

Frank is intelligent enough to put his thoughts and gift @ songwriting on Paper...I wanna see if he's able to step out of the recording studio, put down his cell and stop tweeting his personal Shit and address ALL of this to the Public LIVE....He got what he wanted Via Social Networking and through the Mainstream Media weeks before his CD is due...

Now I wanna see if he's gonna stand by anything he's disclosed about his past....I'm sure Babs Walters would LOVE to do a 20/20 segment on him...

i'll give frank ocean for admitting something that is pretty much a no no in the hip hop/r&b realm and the black community. that's something that you pretty much can't do because it's very homophobic. even being openly gay in the black community is difficult because once again, it's very homophobic. this could come back to bite frank ocean in the ass because people might not want to buy his record and as far as i could see, i haven't heard any music single of his charting or whatever. maybe this is because the record label is scared to push him.

 

[G-Lexington]

Elton John is a Celeb with a good coming out Story...

Really? He sort of haphazardly came out as bisexual in the mid-70s. And although he never truly took that back, he distanced himself from those comments enough that the major biography that was put out in 1990 about him stated that he was actually straight, and was "just confused" during the 1970s due to the stress and strain of being a rock star. It considered his mid-80s marriage (to a woman) to be the final word on the subject - he got married to a woman, so he's straight, end of story. Elton John, who talked at length to the biographer for the book, didn't bother correcting this.

And note that all (most?) of the people you mention had extremely solid careers behind them before they officially came out. Even if you consider Elton John's revelation in 1976 to be his "official" coming out, he already had several number one albums and singles to his credit by that point. Frank Ocean is still very early in his career.

Is he doing it all for the publicity? To an extent, sure. But we live in a world where the two things are no longer able to be separated. (If indeed they ever were.) Twitter and Facebook and all of that are part and parcel of being a "celebrity" these days. It's as much a requirement as "doing press" used to be. And if he used these platforms to come out, and thus generate interest in his forthcoming album, all I can say is:

We are now to the point where coming out of the closet is considered a good move to promote interest in your work.

And if that's accurate, thank God we've gotten there.

Lex

 

[MisterMajestic]

i'll give frank ocean for admitting something that is pretty much a no no in the hip hop/r&b realm and the black community. that's something that you pretty much can't do because it's very homophobic. even being openly gay in the black community is difficult because once again, it's very homophobic. this could come back to bite frank ocean in the ass because people might not want to buy his record and as far as i could see, i haven't heard any music single of his charting or whatever. maybe this is because the record label is scared to push him.

You made some valid points but Black folks STILL go to Wanda Sykes Comedy Concerts...Black folks STILL watch Don Lemon on CNN and listen to him when he does his News-spot on The Warren Ballentine radio show....Waren has the MOST Liberal & Conservative Black listeners out of all the liberal radio shows and they havent threatened to stop listening because Don is reporting the News...

So what does that tell you? The Media says the majority of Blacks are homophobic...Do any of your Black friends & relatives HATE on Gays?....Mine don't and I've been knowing my Black relatives for a long time...

As Black people we have to STOP letting the Media DEFINE us..We're not as bad as they make us out to be....We are the MOST forgiving race of people in America...That is a FACT...

 

[pat grimshaw]

Re: Question

So what makes Frank Ocean so interesting? Is it the music or the lyrics?

 

[refujiunderground]

ou

You made some valid points but Black folks STILL go to Wanda Sykes Comedy Concerts...Black folks STILL watch Don Lemon on CNN and listen to him when he does his News-spot on The Warren Ballentine radio show....Waren has the MOST Liberal & Conservative Black listeners out of all the liberal radio shows and they havent threatened to stop listening because Don is reporting the News...

So what does that tell you? The Media says the majority of Blacks are homophobic...Do any of your Black friends & relatives HATE on Gays?....Mine don't and I've been knowing my Black relatives for a long time...

As Black people we have to STOP letting the Media DEFINE us..We're not as bad as they make us out to be....We are the MOST forgiving race of people in America...That is a FACT...

yes, i know a lot of them that do. my relatives and friends are homophobic. i'll hear them saying homophobic comments on the regular tip saying how disgusted they are with it. my brother had a discussion with me about how he thought the notorious big was gay and last week, he said something about diane king, some old school reggae singer that was on biggie's first album, was gay furthering his suspicions on biggie. #- just couldn't imagine how he would react if i told him that i was gay. i know him and my homeboy would freak out but then again, they think something is wrong with me already. they might try to get me a prostitute or encourage me to get women.

hell, the homophobia in the black community is bad where there's this idea that some people have where black people can't be gay. to them, it's pretty much a thing that only white people do, believe it or not. i've heard many black people say this and the crazy thing is that they think that so and so who is a black gay person came out to be gay because they got molested as a child or whatever. the general sentiment is that so and so is gay so something is wrong with them, they're sexual deviants. they see it on the level of having sex with animals or having sex with children.

but i'm just saying this because these are the type of people that i pretty much am around. there might be black people that are tolerant towards gay people but i rarely see them and for the most part, they're usually black women and you know how some women outthere treat their gay friends.

 

[refujiunderground]

but hell, as far as i know, the hip hop community thinks that record labels are tied in with sex crazed record execs that happen to be gay where artists that are successful on the charts had to have gay sex to get their way to the top. they look @ that shit is some evil, predatory shit. so imagine how they view frank ocean. they'll also use the whole "frank ocean is the most successful one out of the odd future bunch, even more successful than tyler, the creator. he probably had to suck somebody off to get that def jam deal he got." that's why you'll hear rumors on message boards and all over the web about diddy, russell simmons, quincy jones, and all these other guys being gay in the rap business but yet there's such a strong anti-gay vibe/attitude going on where you could get fucked up for being gay. it's pretty much the same way in the streets.

 

[MisterMajestic]

ou

yes, i know a lot of them that do. my relatives and friends are homophobic. i'll hear them saying homophobic comments on the regular tip saying how disgusted they are with it. my brother had a discussion with me about how he thought the notorious big was gay and last week, he said something about diane king, some old school reggae singer that was on biggie's first album, was gay furthering his suspicions on biggie. #- just couldn't imagine how he would react if i told him that i was gay. i know him and my homeboy would freak out but then again, they think something is wrong with me already. they might try to get me a prostitute or encourage me to get women.

hell, the homophobia in the black community is bad where there's this idea that some people have where black people can't be gay. to them, it's pretty much a thing that only white people do, believe it or not. i've heard many black people say this and the crazy thing is that they think that so and so who is a black gay person came out to be gay because they got molested as a child or whatever. the general sentiment is that so and so is gay so something is wrong with them, they're sexual deviants. they see it on the level of having sex with animals or having sex with children.

but i'm just saying this because these are the type of people that i pretty much am around. there might be black people that are tolerant towards gay people but i rarely see them and for the most part, they're usually black women and you know how some women outthere treat their gay friends.

So every single one of your Black relatives and all of your Black friends fit all the negative Stereotypes?

So you are constantly surrounded by negativity from people that are related to you and people that look like you?

 

[refujiunderground]

So every single one of your Black relatives and all of your Black friends fit all the negative Stereotypes?

So you are constantly surrounded by negativity from people that are related to you and people that look like you?

didn't you ask if the people around me were homophobic? if so than from what i know, majority of them are homophobic. you'll even hear it from strangers too black like me saying homophobic things outloud in public places.

hell, i was at the gym last week friday and there were like four black guys and a spanish dude, i never seen before in my life, saying some homophobic comments about how they thought so and so was gay, that person was a big homo and saying how disgusting it was. my homeboy and my brother were talking about transsexuals with my homeboy saying "now we're accepting gay people , watch out for the transsexuals". my brother told him a story about how some transsexuals tried to scare him on his way to work and how they were about to "run up on him on some gangster shit, probably trying to rape him". i'm not making this up.

 

[pat grimshaw]

I accept you, Ref.

 

[refujiunderground]

I accept you, Ref.

...........

 

[refujiunderground]

Frank's not a public person. he never made singles for the radio and doesn't play the whole celebrity role, so if you're waiting for him to stand at a podium and proclaim his sexuality, you'll be waiting for a while.

his mom and crew members confirmed he is indeed bisexual, so that's enough for me. i don't think it would be wise to use the i'm gay thing as a publicity stunt in the rap industry, if could backfire horribly. he didn't come out and say he was gay. he had songs on his album where he said "he" instead of "she" and "boy" instead of "girl" and the rumors started. he confirmed it in his thank you notes on his album, so i don't think he's really using this as means to get publicity for his album, just as a way to come clean

anyway, album just dropped on itunes tonight and its amazing.

aiyo, i hear what you're saying but my eyes got wide when i read that you actually brought the album on itunes. don't you know i could have got you it for free. i'm all for the gift of helping people especially when it comes to downloading albums and movies for free.

 

[Yves]

The album is #1 at iTunes US. Well deserved success.

Ocean performed his new single ("Bad Religion") at Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (link below) Bad Religion is a song about the unrequited love of a man.

Frank Ocean & The Roots live: "Bad Religion"
Frank Ocean Performs "Bad Religion" - Music - Late Night with Jimmy Fallon

Some reactions after Ocean's announcement (NYTimes):
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/07/arts/music/frank-ocean-draws-praise-for-declaring-his-homosexuality.html?pagewanted=all

 

[DigitalFudge]

He is slaying.


Good for him releasing actual R&B music. God knows that genre hasn't sold a damn thing in the past five years.


Lets see if he can keep this up. Remember, he doesn't have a hit single to help promote himself. All he has is his artistry and album. Clearly it's more than enough for him.

 

[G-Lexington]

I already had two people I follow on Twitter say how great the album is - both R&B fans, both straight, neither making any reference to his sexuality.

Lex

 

[EvilTwinTwo]

He doesn't owe anyone any explanations at all.

He puts out music. We like it, we buy it. We don't like it, we don't buy it. Simple as that.

BTW, he new release is great.

It's about the music people.

 

[pat grimshaw]

…It's about the music people.

What's best, the music or the words?

 

[-Kane-]

I believe most of today's Entertainment Stars are indeed Gay, so this means little to people such as myself. As for the significance of his letter, that is indeed a big deal because he is "masculine" in my view. If he was a Fem Queen like Adam Lambert or Miguel, it would be no big deal to anyone on the planet.