- Born
- Birth nameChristopher Edwin Breaux
- Nickname
- Lonny
- Height6′ 1″ (1.85 m)
- Ocean was born in Long Beach, California. When he was around 5 years old, he and his family moved to New Orleans, Louisiana. He grew up around its local jazz scene and listened to his mother's CDs on her car stereo, including albums by Céline Dion, Anita Baker, and "The Phantom of the Opera" soundtrack. As a teenager, he did neighborhood chores and saved up money to rent studio time. He enrolled in the University of New Orleans and moved into its dormitory in 2005.
In 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit Ocean's hometown of New Orleans and his recording facility, which was looted and destroyed by floodwater. To continue recording music, he moved to Los Angeles and intended to stay for six weeks. However, after acclimating himself with music industry circles, Ocean planned to stay longer and develop his music career. He recorded demos at a friend's studio and shopped them around Los Angeles. After getting a songwriting deal, he started working with other record producers and writing songs for artists such as Justin Bieber, John Legend, Damienn Jones and Brandy Norwood.
After meeting them in 2009 through networking, Ocean joined the Los Angeles-based hip hop collective OFWGKTA, also known as Odd Future. His friendship with Odd Future member 'Tyler The Creator' reinvigorated Ocean's songwriting. In late 2009, he met Christopher Stewart, who helped him sign a contract with Def Jam Recordings as a solo artist, though he was initially unable to build a relationship with the company. In 2010, through a legal website, he changed his name from Christopher Breaux to Christopher Francis William Ocean, which was inspired partly by the 1960 film Ocean's Eleven (1960).
On February 18, 2011, Ocean released his first mixtape, Nostalgia, Ultra, to critical acclaim. The mixtape focuses on interpersonal relationships, personal reflection and social commentary. In April 2011, Ocean stated that his relationship with Def Jam strengthened since the release of the mixtape.
Ocean first appeared in the 'Tyler The Creator' music video for the single "She", from Tyler's second studio album Goblin. His first performance was in collaboration with Odd Future at the 2011 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, where he later joined them for their first tour across the east coast of the United States. On May 19, 2011 Ocean's record label Def Jam announced its plans to re-release Nostalgia, Ultra as an EP. The single "Novacane" was released to iTunes in May 2011, and the EP originally was set to be released the next month, but was delayed. In June 2011, Ocean revealed that he would be working on the upcoming Ye and Jay-Z collaborative album, Watch the Throne. Ocean co-wrote and featured on two tracks: "No Church in the Wild" and "Made in America".
On July 28, 2011, a song titled "Thinkin About You", leaked on the internet. It was later revealed the song was a reference track, written by Ocean, for Roc Nation artist Bridget Kelly's debut studio album. Kelly renamed the song "Thinking About Forever". In September 2011, a music video directed by High5Collective for Ocean's version was released, yet the song still appeared on Kelly's debut EP Every Girl. In March 2012, a re-mastered version of "Thinkin About You" leaked, intended to be a single. Ocean released the cover art for his debut studio album's lead single, titled "Thinkin Bout You", revealing the song would be released to digital retailers on April 10.
On June 8, 2012, a single from the album Channel Orange, entitled "Pyramids", was made available for download on Ocean's Tumblr blog. On July 4, 2012, Ocean published an open letter on his Tumblr blog recounting unrequited feelings he had for another young man when he was 19 years old, citing it as his first true love. He used the blog to thank the man for his influence, and also thanked his mother and other friends. Members of the hip hop industry generally responded positively to the announcement. On July 10, 2012, Ocean made his debut television performance with "Bad Religion" on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (2009). The same day, Ocean released his album one week ahead of schedule for digital download on iTunes and free streaming on his Tumblr blog. All other forms of distribution for the album were available on July 17, 2012. On September 6, 2012, Frank Ocean performed an acoustic version of his Channel Orange single, "Thinkin Bout You", at the 2012 MTV Video Music Awards (2012) which was held at the Staples Center arena at L.A. Live in Downtown Los Angeles. _2014 Frank Ocean Co-produced and wrote "Cinderella" a song for recording artist Damienn Jones.- IMDb Mini Biography By: ave_smartguy_87@yahoo.com - Visionary American recording artist Frank Ocean is one of the most celebrated and critically acclaimed artists of this era.
His heavily lauded breakout mix tape 'Nostalgia Ultra' in 2011 set the tone for what would be the Grammy-Award winning record 'Channel Orange'. After a four year break, Ocean dropped one of the most anticipated albums of all time 'Endless', followed a day later by the seminal and game-changing album 'Blonde'.- IMDb Mini Biography By: 20xx
- Red and white striped headband
- Lyrics dealing with themes of love, longing, misgiving, and nostalgia
- Compositions that are often midtempo and feature unconventional melodies
- Reclusiveness
- The Shawshank Redemption (1994) is his favorite film.
- His vocal range is described as "a baritone, with tenor moments".
- Titled his debut album, Channel Orange, as a reference to the neurological phenomenon grapheme-color synesthesia and the color he perceived during the summer he first fell in love.
- Legally changed his name to Christopher Francis Ocean inspired by Frank Sinatra and Ocean's Eleven (1960).
- Listened to music by Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, and Jimi Hendrix to either set a mood or use as musical references for Channel Orange.
- Four summers ago, I met somebody. I was nineteen years old. He was too. We spent that summer, and the summer after, together. Everyday almost. And on the days we were together, time would glide. Most of the day I'd see him and his smile, I'd hear his conversation and his silence until it was time to sleep. Sleep I would often share with him. By the time I realized I was in love, it was malignant. It was hopeless. I sat there and told my friend how I felt. I wept as the words left my mouth. I grieved for them, knowing I could never take them back for myself. He patted my back. He said kind things. He did his best, but he wouldn't admit the same. He had to go back inside soon. It was late and his girlfriend was waiting for him upstairs. He wouldn't tell me the truth about his feelings for me for another three years. I felt like I'd only imagined reciprocity for years. Now imagine being thrown from a cliff. No, I wasn't on a cliff, I was still in my car telling myself it was gonna be fine and to take deep breaths. I took the breaths and carried on. I kept up a peculiar friendship with him because I couldn't imagine keeping up my life without him. I struggled to master myself and my emotions. I wasn't always successful. Before writing this I'd told some people my story. I'm sure these people kept me alive, kept me save sincerely, these are the folks I wanna thank from the floor of my heart. Everyone of you knows who you are great humans, probably angels. I don't know what happens now, and that's alright. I don't have any secrets I need kept anymore. There's probably some small shit still, but you know what I mean. I was never alone, as much as I felt like it as much as I still do sometimes. I never was. I don't think I ever could be. Thanks. To my first love. I'm grateful for you. Grateful that even though it wasn't what I hoped for and even though it was never enough, it was. Some things never are and we were. I won't forget you. I won't forget the summer. I'll remember who I was when I met you. Thanks. To my mother, you raised me strong. I know I'm only braved because you were first ... so thank you. All of you. For everything good. I feel like a free man. If I listen closely I can hear the sky falling too.
- I'll usually cringe at the R&B label. Because it's like calling it urban and what the fuck is urban music?
- My generation just doesn't have the best taste in leadership. And weak leadership means little to no cohesion. If there's no cohesion, there's no real chance for effective protest or politics. Obviously, looking at Occupy Wall Street, there are a few in our bunch who still give a damn enough to rally and shout. This will change once I'm elected President.
- [about his sexuality and coming out before the release of his album][It was] about my own sanity and my ability to feel like I'm living a life where. I'm happy when I wake up in the morning, and not with this freaking' boulder on my chest. I knew that I was writing [the album] in a way that people would ask questions. I knew that my star was rising, and I knew that if I waited I would always have somebody that I respected be able to encourage me to wait longer, to not say it till who knows when. I wished at 13 there was somebody I looked up to who would have said something like that, who would have been transparent in that way.
- [on being fearless about his sexual declaration] People are just afraid of things too much. Afraid of things that don't necessarily merit fear. Me putting Nostalgia out. What's physically going to happen? Me saying what I said on my Tumblr last week? Sure, evil exists, extremism exists. Somebody could commit a hate crime and hurt me. But they could do the same just because I'm black. They could do the same just because I'm American. Do you just not go outside your house? Do you not drive your car because of the statistics? How else are you limiting your life for fear?
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