Every worthwhile artist’s origin story starts with a lot of ups and downs. These musicians don’t stumble into success by accident; they achieve it through hard work and sacrifice. Sometimes, performing doesn’t pay well, if at all. Studio time is expensive, and it can be hard to be creative when you’re working a regular 9-5 job. However, it’s a beautiful thing when the catharsis of all those tough times finally pays off. For Frank Ocean, it seemed like he was always destined to be a superstar in hindsight. However, there were many tireless days and nights spent trying to make his dream come true, from songwriting to regular gigs alike.
Back in November 2012, Ocean spoke to GQ, looking back on his days in New Orleans and everything he went through before getting big in L.A. He opened up about leaving his home in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, slowly plugging away at his artistic dreams.
“I had been putting together these demos that I was going to properly record in a real studio in L.A. So I saved up money doing Sheetrocking, and I drove out with my girlfriend at the time. I was only supposed to be there for six weeks. I don’t feel like I ever made a conscious decision to stay six years. You just kind of roll,” Frank Ocean explains. “The first four and a half years was me in the studio every day, writing songs for other people. I had jobs, too. Eleven jobs. I worked at Kinko’s, Fatburger, Subway—I was a sandwich artist—and I was a claims processor at Allstate Insurance.”
Frank Ocean Recalls His Days Working at Fatburger Before Making It Big as a Singer-Songwriter
Naturally, the interviewer pondered how you go from making sandwiches to being in the studio with music’s A-list. For Frank Ocean, it was equally as sudden in his eyes. But ultimately, it’s just another reminder to continue putting in those 10,000 hours. Then, you can work with the Beyoncé types of the world.
“One night, I went to a listening party just to pick up my backpack from a friend. Next thing I know, I’m in this studio, and everybody’s putting their laptops on the pool table, playing songs through these big-ass speakers. It was crazy. And they wanted me to play, so I plugged in, and they were like, ‘Oh s***.’ There were producers there, and they said, ‘You should come up to the studio and write.’ So I did,” Frank Ocean recalled.
“I’d sit in those rooms for hours. But I wouldn’t write any line that was as good as the lines being written in the rooms next to me. It was just like: I had to elevate. I was looking at it like an athlete then,” Frank Ocean continued. “Like I just wanted to be better than everybody else. I hadn’t gone through anything emotionally yet. I had never been in love; I had never been heartbroken. When that happened, that’s really what changed everything. That turned me into a real artist. It made the difference between somebody hearing something of mine and being like, ‘Wow, this is a fresh approach,’ and somebody hearing something and crying, you know?”
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