Frank Ocean’s Sophomore Album ‘Boys Don’t Cry’ Set To Drop At Last?
Frank Ocean released his debut album way back in 2012. Channel Orange was a huge hit for Ocean, and perhaps just as importantly it won rave reviews from the critics. Ocean also made history by becoming the first artist ever to top the U.K. album chart purely on digital sales. Ocean has collaborated with the giants of the hip-hop and rap world, including Kanye West and Jay-Z. Frank has written songs for the likes of Justin Bieber and John Legend, and Ocean won a host of music industry awards during 2011 and 2012. It is fair to say that Ocean’s sophomore album has been eagerly awaited.
Ocean fans have been awaiting the best part of four years, and it seems that the wait may be coming to an end. According to the Independent, a cryptic message on Ocean’s website suggests that Boys Don’t Cry may finally be set for release this month, a full 12 months after it was expected to drop.
Earlier today, Ocean’s website was updated for the first time in over a year when a picture of a library card appeared. A date stamp at the bottom of the card shows July 2016 but has the exact date smudged out. Apparently, the HTML code for the page says “Late,” but Billboard surmises that the post means that Ocean is finally set to release the long-awaited album.
#FrankOcean allegedly dropping a new album this month called #BoysDontCry. https://t.co/EtNAMF6jlt pic.twitter.com/NJrgbQ4ZVz
— YBF CHIC (@TheYBF) July 2, 2016
MTV recalls that last year, Ocean teased a July 2015 release for the album when he released a widely circulated image that saw Frank sitting on top of a stack of magazines, titled “Boys Don’t Cry.”
Back in February, a number of low quality rips of what may be Ocean’s new beats appeared on the internet after what was termed a “very very secret listening party.” The leaked tunes were quickly removed as a result of copyright infringement claims. Fans are speculating that the dates on the library card on Ocean’s website, numbering 15 in total, are a reference to the number of times that the album has been delayed.
NME reports that Ocean’s album was recorded at London’s famous Abbey Road studios, and Frank’s producer Malay said back in March that the album was “maybe a month away.”
It is no surprise that the new Ocean album is so eagerly anticipated. Frank’s long-time friend Chance The Rapper has said that Ocean is creating a “masterpiece.” James Blake, who has worked on the album, claims that Boys Don’t Cry is even better than Ocean’s 2012 debut disc.
Ocean fans will be hoping that this latest speculation does not lead to further disappointment. Back in August of last year, Popcrush was reporting that Ocean fans had taken to Twitter to voice their upset at the fact that the release had not arrived.
On July 31, one fan even went so far as to say that “either Frank Ocean [is] dropping the album at midnight tonight or I’m dropping myself off in the ocean.” Frank’s fans will therefore be hoping that this does not prove to be another false alarm.
Ocean is no stranger to controversy. Frank found himself in hot water when he sampled the Eagles song “Hotel California” on his own track “American Wedding.” Ocean threw shade at Eagles member Don Henley, claiming that Henley was “intimidated” by his sampling of the Eagles song. Henley was clearly not impressed as his legal representatives released a statement on the matter.
“Frank Ocean did not merely ‘sample’ a portion of the Eagles’ ‘Hotel California,’ he took the whole master track, plus the song’s existing melody, and replaced the lyrics with his own. This is not creative, let alone ‘intimidating.’ It’s illegal. For the record, Don Henley has not threatened or instituted any legal action against Frank Ocean, although the Eagles are now considering whether they should.”
In 2013, Ocean got into a fight with Chris Brown outside a recording studio, and in 2014 Frank was sued by Chipotle Mexican Grill to recover the cash they paid Frank for an advertisement that was never made. Despite these issues, Ocean’s new album is one of the most eagerly anticipated of the year and is sure to be a huge hit when it is finally released.
[Photo by Mark J. Terrill/Invision/AP]
