Frank Ocean, contemplative voice of the collective Odd Future, gifted new solo
artist, Watch the Throne collaborator, fell in love with a man four summers
ago.
He wrote authentically and tenderly about the power of loving for the
first time, an open love letter meant to be added to the liner notes of his
debut album, Channel Orange, due out next week.
But facing the relentless urgency of social media, the long simmering
speculation about his sexuality, his own honest lyrics and a moment that
simply felt right, Ocean, 24, posted the letter on Tumblr last week, releasing
his intimate admission into the ether and an urban music world still thick
with homophobia, misogyny and materialism.
On a flight from his native New Orleans to Los Angeles in December, the
avant-garde artist -- whose music lives somewhere between hip hop and R&B,
wrote "4 summers ago, I met somebody. I was 19. He was too. We spent that
summer, and the summer after, together. Every day almost. And on the days we
were together, time would glide."
With that, Ocean -- who landed on the broader public radar last year with
the single Novacane -- became the first major hip-hop or R&B artist to
publicly acknowledge a same-sex relationship, done so with a beautifully
uncomplicated much-ado-about-nothing air.
And in the week since, he has been praised as a pioneer, a poignant
reflection of his generation. With his simple letter, he presented himself as
an alternative to the archetype, emotionally challenged b-boy.
"It wasn't a coming-out story as much as a love story. He writes about
unrequited love, like Adele and Mary J Blige did so painfully, so soulfully on
21, and My Life," says Terrance Dean, author of the memoir Hiding In Hip Hop:
On The Down Low in the Entertainment Industry From Music to Hollywood. "He
showed remarkable courage and bravery, and the letter showed his humanity. It
is historic because there is no major rapper or R&B singer who is openly gay
or bisexual."
Los Angeles Times music writer Gerrick D. Kennedy spoke to the power of
the letter, calling it a "glass ceiling moment for music. Especially black
music, which has long been in desperate need of a voice like Ocean's to break
the layers of homophobia."
Almost immediately, celebrities from Jay-Z and Beyonce. to Busta Rhymes
and Boy George voiced support for Ocean, his music, his choices, his right to
love. With each public statement, Tweet or Facebook posting, artists
collectively challenged the historic intolerance within hip-hop and signaled,
perhaps, social change.
"Today is a big day for hip-hop," Russell Simmons, seminal founder of Def
Jam Records, wrote on the Global Grind website. "It is a day that will define
who we really are. How compassionate will we be? How loving can we be? How
inclusive are we? I am profoundly moved by the courage and honest of Frank
Ocean. Your decision to go public about your sexual orientation gives hope and
light to so many people still living in fear."
Miami rapper Trina told TMZ: "I don't think [Frank's] music sales or the
level of support his music obtains should be judged based on his sexual
preference," she said, "If he's happy and comfortable with his sexuality then
so be it. I feel his decision to come forward was bold and honest. It's his
life. Let him enjoy and live it. I wish him much success and happiness."
