Live.Love.Frank Ocean.
"Holy shit. ...Why does this make me love him 10x more though?" is how I responded to my fellow writer friend, @missmedidijah's tweet linking me to the letter singer/songwriter/amazing muthafucka, Frank Ocean wrote in the wee hours of this 4th of July. Who would have thought that history would be made on the 4th of July again.
For those who are unaware of what the hell I'm talking about, after a listening event of Frank's upcoming album, Channel Orange, recently, some lady named Max from BBC Radio 1 took to her personal blog to give her reaction to the album. And she stated that Frank opened up about his bisexuality on the album by "purposely" using "he" and "him" in song lyrics verses "she" and "her". And she said some other shit. So this got everyone going, "WTF is happening!" Then as some of us went to bed, Frank took to his tumblr and wrote the world a letter that would change so much, literally overnight. He confirmed the bisexuality rumors and told us about his first love, who just so happened to be a guy.
Now I have said millions of time that I love Frank Ocean, that I think he's not even human because he's just too good to be human, and he's a living legend-but this whole situation just took my love and respect for him to another level. He is one brave muthafucka. To literally just open yourself up like that to the world in such a soul baring way, he is like David to Goliath and Goliath ain't shit. I wish more public figures would be honest in this way, and not just about their sexuality but about themselves in general because they might think it hurts their precious careers but it could actually save someone's life. Just telling your story could give someone else the courage to tell their's.
And as far as that lady from BBC Radio, you ain't shit. You can go to a listening party and interpret songs from the album a certain way , but don't go putting labels on people. Especially not a heavy one like, "bisexual". I just kinda feel like it was messed up she did that and like ushered him out of the closet or whatever and he couldn't tell his story on his time. But my beef with typical media and the people who do it requires a whole other post.
In the end, I love Frank Ocean and I always will. He is a musical genius with a kind heart and a brave soul. I could only hope to be as amazing as he is. I will love him and his art no matter who he is or who he loves. And that is how everyone should feel not just about Frank Ocean but about each other. The racism, the homophobia, and any other kind of prejudice that is still being done in the world is ridiculous and done by mindless people who don't know how to or don't want to be honest with themselves. And for anyone who says that they won't support or listen to Frank's music anymore, it is truly your loss and not his. You can't tell me Swim Good wasn't your shit! Or that you weren't grooving to Novacane like your granddaddy. But you're missing out because you want to hate him for what he does with his life! I'm happy for Frank, I congratulate him on his bravery, and I'm excited as fuck for this new album.
Live. Love. Frank Ocean.
...Dude should run for president, then there might be world peace. For real, for real.
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