Who Is Frank Ocean?

“For the last six months, every armchair critic has been hysterically decreeing that the future will be Odd, but no one anticipated the transition would be this smooth". - Jeff Weiss, LA Times

Moving from New Orleans to Los Angeles to pursue a career in music, Frank Ocean found his dreams going nowhere fast. He decided to take matters into his own hands. Ocean found himself becoming a member of the group Odd Future Wolf Gang Killing Them All (OFWGKTA also known as Odd Future). Stemming from Los Angeles, Odd Future includes a series of artist that range from producers, rappers and singers. With 11 members, Odd Future is indeed taking over slowly. And with the release of Frank Ocean’s new mixtape,entitled “Nostalgia/ Ultra”, that take over might very well be inevitable.

In reference to his new released mixtape, Frank Ocean refers to himself as not being a “typical r&b artist”. He is right! He is far from being a typical r&b artist. He blurs the line between genres of music and developed his own unique sound.Ocean’s body of work (including songwriting) was able to land him a deal with Island Def Jam. Artist, such as Beyonce Knowles, Drake and Trey Songz, have embraced his sound for production of present and upcoming projects. But there is no truer expression of this man’s talent then that of “Nostalgia/ Ultra”. Not only is it beautifully crafted production wise, but the storytelling ability of Ocean is more than evident.

Considering the music that fans have heard Ocean produce with Odd Future, “Nostalgia/ Ultra” may seem like a bit of a departure from the groups overall material. Ocean’s debut solo project is an amazing fusion of pop, alternative, down beat electronica and soul.(His sound has been referenced to anywhere from the genius of Kanye West to Radiohead).

Ocean thinks outside the box and it is made apparent in each song.With songs on the mixtape such as “dust” and “swim good”, the listener is able to travel within poetically written songs and see the depths of Ocean’s mind without it being overbearing. If the listener truly pays attention, they are able to see that not every song is what it seems. He masters the art of storytelling also with songs such as “songs for women" where he semi- admits that he “sings songs to get at women".

“Nostalgia/ Ultra" takes the listener on a journey of Ocean’s past experiences leaving them to yearn for the next trip... and this is the musical genius of Frank Ocean.

“One of the best pieces of advice I’ve ever heard was, ‘Continue doing what you’re doing.’I’m going to continue to be guided, and continue to progress. I’ll be getting on the road and working on new music. I’m nine or ten pieces into this next body of work. I’ll be writing with people that want to write with me, and that I want to write with. And that’s all. Just keeping it moving. Continuing to do what I want to do.” -Frank Ocean, complex magazine interview.

-Ricki Ryan