Frank Ocean was one of the first on stage at the MTV Video Music Awards, leading a cast of performers that would include Rihana, Pink, One Direction and A$AP Rocky — and he stole the show.
Among the slate of A-list singers and bands, it was Ocean’s performance that everyone was talking about, The Huffington Post reported . Frank Ocean’s crooning performance on “Thinking About You” was a stripped-down masterpiece, lacking the big production values of past VMA performers to instead focus solely on the music.
Frank Ocean took the stage wearing his trademark bandana and seated by a fake campfire, unleashing what The Huffington Post called “studio perfect vocals.”
As the Los Angeles Times noted , there was really no other approach Frank Ocean could have taken. After all, “This is a song that’s all vocals, and delicate vocals at that.”
The report notes:
Ocean’s words seemed to disappear in the pauses between the softly strummed acoustic guitar, and credit MTV for playing to Ocean’s strengths. As much as his debut, “Channel Orange,” experiments with electronics, this is old-school soul music with just a nip of a modern sheen.
For Frank Ocean the performance can be a good way to distance himself from some of the distracting press he’s been receiving lately. After admitting that his first love was a man , Ocean was on the receiving end of some online hatred and even some confusing comments from Stevie Wonder , though Wonder later clarified that he meant nothing against Ocean.
The performance was a show-stopper at the MTV Video Music Awards, and even prompted fellow celebrities to praise Ocean.
Lada Gaga was a big fan:
watch frank ocean steal this whole show. I’m dead
— Lady Gaga (@ladygaga) September 7, 2012
DJ A-TRAK also had nothing but love for Frank Ocean on Twitter:
There you go frank. No need for a trapeze lift or lasers. Marshmallow fire. #VMA
— A-Trak (@atrak) September 7, 2012
Frank Ocean now can ride the momentum from his VMA performance into next week, when he performs on the season premiere of Saturday Night Live .
