Before Frank Ocean, there weren’t many openly queer R&B artists. Consequently, when he released his ‘coming out’ letter on Tumblr on July 4th, 2012, it was eye-opening. Today, it feels a little less intense because of the social acceptance that has developed over the years. But at the time, there were many valid fears about embracing his true identity.
Naturally, his announcement sparked a ton of questions. First of all, why did he do it? In a 2012 conversation with GQ, Frank Ocean candidly recalled his mindset around addressing his sexuality. Apparently, when preparing to release Channel Orange, Def Jam hosted a listening session. Then one of the journalists felt it necessary to discuss some of the album’s more suggestive lyrics. As a result, Frank Ocean figured he might as well confront it head-on rather than beat around the bush.
“I had Skyped into a listening session that Def Jam was hosting for Channel Orange, and one of the journalists, very harmlessly—quotation gestures in the air—wrote a piece and mentioned that. I was just like, ‘F*** it. Talk about it, don’t talk about it. Talk about this.’ No more mystery. Through with that,” Ocean said at the time.
Frank Ocean Reveals How He Was Feeling The Night He Came Out
Understandably, there were a ton of emotions that came out of Frank Ocean’s announcement. He wept, but it wasn’t the same kind of sadness and fear that might typically come with this kind of experience. Instead, there was a sense of relief and beauty in being open about himself. “The night I posted it, I cried like a f***ing baby. It was like all the frequency just clicked to a change in my head. All the receptors were now receiving a different signal, and I was happy. I hadn’t been happy in so long,” Frank Ocean admitted.
“I’ve been sad again since, he continued, “but it’s a totally different take on sad. There’s just some magic in truth and honesty and openness.”
Still, there existed an inevitable risk that Ocean’s announcement would negatively impact his career. Moreover, there existed a likelihood that it would affect his relationship with his family. “In Black music, we’ve got so many leaps and bounds to make with acceptance and tolerance,” Ocean said. “It reflects something just ingrained, you know. When I was growing up, there was nobody in my family—not even my mother—who I could look to and be like, ‘I know you’ve never said anything homophobic.’”
“So, you know, you worry about people in the business who you’ve heard talk that way,” Ocean continued. “Some of my heroes coming up talk recklessly like that. It’s tempting to give those views and words—that ignorance—more attention than they deserve. Very tempting.”
Ultimately, that’s why Ocean felt it was so important to pair his announcement with the release of his album. In that sense, Frank Ocean felt almost unimpeachable. “Some people said, ‘He’s saying he fell in love with a guy for hype.’ As if that’s the best hype you can get in hip-hop or Black music. I knew that if I was going to say what I said, it had to be in concert with one of the most brilliant pieces of art that has come out in my generation. And that’s what I did,” Frank Ocean declares.
“Why can I say that? Why I don’t have to affect all this humility and s*** is because I worked my a** off. I worked my face off. And the part that you love the most is the easiest part for me. So, I’ll do it again.”
The post ‘The Night I Posted It, I Cried Like a F***ing Baby’: Frank Ocean Opens up About Coming Out Ahead of ‘Channel Orange’ appeared first on VICE.
