Got a fighter jet, I don’t get to fly it though, I’m lying down” I don’t love you, I just thought you were cute – that’s why I kissed you Got a beach house I could sell you in I-daho, since you think
No I don’t like you, I just thought you were cool enough to kick it I’ve been thinking ’bout you (you know, know, know)ĭo you think about me still? Do ya, do ya?Ĭause I been thinking ’bout forever, oooh My eyes don’t, shed, tears, but boy, they pour when In Southern California much, like Arizona “A tornado flew around my room, before you cameĮxcuse, the mess it made, it u-sually doesn’t rain His vocals are often purposefully ambiguous, such as on the single “Thinkin Bout You”. Many of his bootleg tracks were described as “guideline vocals” for female R&B singers he was a ghostwriter for. When looking at Ocean’s lyrics though, they imply bisexuality as opposed to a stated preference either way.
I’ve spent the last couple of week’s immersing myself in Ocean’s catalogue including “ channel ORANGE ,” which found its release date pushed up to take advantage of Ocean’s name making waves – only further fueling the “publicity stunt” suspicions of many. Odd Future are homophobes for show, because being offensive gets people talking, and the more they talk the more people will tune in and find out about their work.īack to Frank Ocean though, whose revelation has been met in public with both admiration and suspicion, as people laud him for challenging hip-hop’s supposed norms while others suspect it to be nothing but a publicity stunt. Thankfully it came backed with good beats, true lyrical skills, and a remarkably nuanced political message that was often missed by the people who couldn’t look past the curse words. Rather than scaring away the middle class, the critics actually succeeded in enticing them to enjoy the forbidden fruit. In a way it’s like watching the rebirth of N.W.A.over 25 years after they stormed onto the national scene and were dubbed “The World’s Most Dangeround Group.” It was the nascent birth of viral marketing – the more they were labeled as violent, sociopathic and dangerous the more successful they became. Odd Future’s success as a crew can be split evenly between the genuine talent they exhibit as producers/lyricists/musicians and their ability to provoke pundits like Bill O’Reilly. So far they’ve been nothing but supportive, which leads me to conclude that something I’ve speculated on for the longest time is 100% true. For a young man trying to figure out his sexuality as he came of age, what could the effect of all the hyper-masculinity in hip-hop be on his psyche? And how would a crew who tosses the word “faggot” around like a Brit asking for his cigarettes react to his revelation? He certainly would have read about it in magazines like XXL and The Source though, and seen articles about it online as the internet’s scope grew. After all these years of searching for the mythical “gay rapper” a rapper/singer from the Odd Future clique came out and said “I’m the guy you’re looking for,” even though at 24 years old he wouldn’t have been in the business at the height of this fevered hunt. In a hip-hop collective ( Tyler, the Creator) Frank Ocean is a very square peg surrounded by nothing but the roundest of holes. What did people actually expect to do if they figured out who the “gay rapper” was anyway? Encourage him to come out? Stone him for not conforming to stereotypical norms of rap masculinity? Both? I really don’t know. In hindsight that’s actually pretty silly, because if there are thousands of rappers in the music business, there ought to be at a minimum DOZENS of homosexual male and female artists. Ever since the early 1990’s and possibly before, hip-hop fans and pundits have speculated on which unidentified mystery man was the “gay rapper” keeping his secret in the closet.
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