Since Frank Ocean doesn’t do many speaking engagements, when he does, people listen up. Ever since the famous open letter in which The Odd Future member admitted to falling in love with another man, he’s been silent…until now. He recently did a photo shoot and interview with GQ Magazine in which he addressed the famous open letter via Tubmlr that broke the mold in the hip hop world.
Ocean explains the reason why he posted the letter is because a journalist “very harmlessly” wrote a piece about the issue, and brought it up during a Def Jam Skype session. “I was just like, ‘F-ck it. Talk about it, don’t talk about it-talk about this.’ No more mystery. Through with that,” he said.
After he posted his truth, he said the weight was lifted from his shoulders. “I cried like a f-cking baby…I was happy. I hadn’t been happy in so long….There’s just some magic in truth and honesty and openness,” he stated.
However, the intimate letter didn’t come without fear of what those in the black community and music world would think. “In black music, we’ve got so many leaps and bounds to make with acceptance and tolerance in regard to that issue,” he said. “So you worry about people in the business who you’ve heard talk that way.” Even though Ocean chooses to not acknowledge the chatter, he says it’s difficult to. “It’s tempting to give those views and words-that ignorance-more attention than they deserve. Very tempting.”
But just like his music, don’t label him. He unsurprisingly rejects being placed in a box. “The same sentiment that I have towards genres of music, I have towards a lot of labels and boxes and sh-t….I’m not trying to sell you sex,” he relayed. He explains that the richness of life is too short to be so close-minded. “There’s so much something in life. Don’t get caught up in the nothing. That sh-t is nothing, you know? It’s nothing. Vanish the fear.”
