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After blessing the world with the whimsical and thoughtful album, Blonde, in 2016, US musician Christopher Edwin “Lonny” Breaux, more affectionately known by his stage name Frank Ocean, disappeared when the world needed him most.
But after a six-year hiatus that had us playing his albums on an almost never-ending loop, we were finally treated to some good news when it was announced that he would be headlining the Coachella Valley Arts and Music Festival 2023, with a set that would reintroduce him to the world after going through a metamorphosis of sorts.
Fans and critics shared their excitement about the news, especially after a picture circulated on the internet featuring Ocean with some long locs, hinting at a possible rebrand for the Nights hitmaker.
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The last time anyone had seen or heard from the musician, he was cruising on the wave of the success of his album Blonde and sporting his iconic green buzz cut.
With a career that has been shrouded in controversy since the very beginning, Ocean often has a lot to prove when he releases and seldom disappoints.
He came into the industry in an unconventional way and began his career as a songwriter. The New Orleans native wrote for artists, such as John Legend and Justin Bieber, giving him the credentials and money he needed to eventually start his own career.
He joined the musical and creative ensemble, Odd Future, as their singing marvel, along with fellow musicians Syd (formerly known as Syd tha Kyd), Steve Lacy, who is the genius behind the viral song, Bad Habit, and musical extraordinaire Tyler the Creator.
The group not only went to make some alternative hits that inspired a whole subculture of teens but provided a foundation for some of the greatest talents of the new age.
Ocean seems to sing to the beat of his own drum, with musical releases that often come years apart from one another. The formula for the singer is simple: he reappears, releases a banger and then disappears again.
This has been the case since his breakthrough album as a solo artist in 2011, Nostalgia Ultra. The album featured hits, including Swim Good and Novacane, and it was the first time we came to understand Ocean's genius and his thoughtful and honest approach to love and music.
His second release, Channel Orange, came in 2012 and solidified him as a household name with hits like Pyramids and Pink Matter, which you'll probably find on every heartbreak playlist you can think of. He then went off the radar for four years and then released his highly anticipated albums, Blonde and Endless, coming out only days apart. Both were appreciated and widely loved by fans and critics alike.
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After six years without any performances and releases, it seems Ocean is a little bit rusty as his Coachella set was a dismal mess. While guests waited excitedly for the musical genius to claim his place on the Coachella stage, social media reports began flooding timelines claiming Ocean was an hour late for his set.
Once he arrived, guests were again disappointed at his lacklustre performance with videos and voice recordings circulating the internet showcasing the musician dancing and lip-syncing to his songs. Publications began documenting the event, stating that the show started late, ended early, lacked a live-stream, and had a very confusing stage set-up.
I have never been happier that I didn’t waste money to see Frank Ocean end Coachella like this…horrific lmao pic.twitter.com/WeoGRHqnQS
— yllireally (@whydee__) April 17, 2023
Frank Ocean on stage at Coachella. pic.twitter.com/t5LbZPFXsZ
— Complex (@Complex) April 17, 2023
frank ocean dancing/vibing to chanel live at coachella pic.twitter.com/MnqAf5WPXo
— Frank Ocean Daily (@TeamFrankDaily) April 17, 2023
Many have speculated the singer's underwhelming performance may have come as a result of the death of his brother Ryan Breaux in 2020. Ocean reflected on the death of his brother in a touching speech during his Coachella set and remembered the times he spent at Coachella with his brother.
“I have missed you,” he said.
“One of my fondest memories was watching Rae Sremmurd on — I don’t know what that stage is called — watching Rae Sremmurd with my brother and Travis [‘Taco’ Bennet]. We were just dancing in that tent to their music.
Though this touching moment may have been enough for most, a more sinister truth may have been making itself visible.
Since his career has always been unconventional. It only made sense that his artistic formula would follow in the same footsteps. For most musicians, creating and releasing are meticulous journeys that take business precision, where the frequency of releasing is synonymous with the sustainability of the artist’s relevance.
Ocean has survived on the strength of his brand and his music, both holding up the integrity of his legacy even beyond what we thought we understood to be a consistent musician.
However, while many musicians work themselves to the bone, there is also the beauty that comes with being given a front-row seat to the budding of the various eras they go through. A process which we have been robbed of by Ocean, who even cancelled his performance for the second weekend of the Coachella festival.
While he never disappoints us with his music, we are starved of the personalisation that allows us to understand and grow to love an artist not only for the music they make but also for who they actually are.
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While no artist owes us the luxuries of watching their lives through an intimate-looking glass, we as consumers need it to even defend an artist when they fumble. The same can be said for an artist like Rihanna whose Super Bowl performance was only a shadow of the artist we’d known and loved over the last decade.
While Ocean deserves a chance as an artist who has dedicated his life to entertaining his fans, it might be time for him to reconsider his formula so that he can grow with the times and his fans as well.
