The first thing that strikes you about
R&B artist
Frank Ocean's coming out statement is that it doesn't read much like a coming out statement. Over the course of a few hundred words
posted on his Tumblr blog,
the 24-year-old singer never says anything along the lines of "I have
something to tell you all … I'm gay." Instead, he writes movingly of a
summer spent falling hopelessly in love with someone and the excitement,
confusion and turmoil this caused: "I was 19 years old. He was too. We
spent that summer, and the summer after, together … 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."
Anyone who has
ever experienced the all-consuming force of falling for someone they
feel like they shouldn't will instantly relate to Ocean's words – the
declarations of love through tears, the assurances that everything will
be OK, the other partner waiting upstairs. That both people in this tale
are men doesn't seem important.
The second thing that strikes you is that, actually, we still live in a world in which it really
is important that Ocean is talking about another man. The worlds of
rap and R&B which he frequents are not known for their tolerance of homosexuality, from
Eminem rapping "Hate fags? The answer's yes!"
to Chris Brown's recent use of the #homothug hashtag during a Twitter
spat. Then there's the matter of Ocean's bandmates in the
hip-hop
collective Odd Future, who have become notorious for misogynistic and
homophobic lyrics (Ass Milk's "Come take a stab at it faggot … I
pre-ordered your casket" is one particularly charming example). Pop and
dance music have seen plenty of artists stepping out of the closet but
in the macho-oriented world of rap and R&B it's unheard of for a
star to come out.
Matthew Todd, editor of gay magazine Attitude,
says Ocean's Tumblr post caused ripples of excitement in their office.
"For anyone to come out this early in their career is unusual," he says;
that Ocean is one of the most hotly tipped new names in music only
amplifies the effect. "There's still a lot of homophobic abuse around,
as you can see by some of the responses on Twitter. But it's an
interesting time in the US with Obama supporting gay marriage and Jay-Z
supporting it also."
Born Christopher Breaux in New Orleans in
1987, Ocean was raised by his mother after his father left them.
Although still only in his early 20s, his CV proves he is not easily
pigeonholed – he has written songs for Justin Bieber and Beyoncé as well
as starred on the Watch the Throne album, a collaboration between Jay-Z
and Kanye West. He seems at home in the highly controversial Odd
Future, yet later this year he will
open for Coldplay.
Clearly,
Ocean is an artist who follows his own path. He was signed up by Def
Jam to release his debut solo album, but when Def Jam seemed to get cold
feet, Ocean posted the album
Nostalgia, Ultra
online. It quickly gained a following – not only for its pop melodies
and indie R&B production, but also for its ability to tackle issues
not often discussed in pop with such boldness. There Will Be Tears
talked of the sadness caused by his absent father and the peer pressure
to put on a brave face ("My friends said it weren't so bad./ You can't
miss what you ain't had./ Well I can, I'm sad"), whereas Swim Good
confronted suicidal tendencies. Ocean opened up further on We All Try,
airing his thoughts on both abortion ("I believe a woman's temple gives
her the right to choose") and, significantly, gay marriage: "I believe
that marriage isn't between a man and woman, but between love and love."
Guardian critics voted it their third favourite album of 2011 while the BBC had him down second in its
Sound of 2012 poll. Later this month Ocean will release Channel Orange, rumoured to contain several love songs addressed to another man.
"Hip-hop
and R&B are so overtly masculine, so obstinately heterosexual that I
can appreciate how singing about having loved, or being in love with, a
man might have been something [Ocean] had to consider before he pressed
record," says
urban music
writer Hattie Collins. "It is an issue. But it's the same with most pop
music; look at how long it took poor old Stephen Gately to come out,
and he was in one of the most gay-friendly genres ever."
It is
fitting that Ocean was invited to work with Kanye West on Watch
the Throne as it is West who has done so much to change attitudes in
hip-hop and shake off the lyrical straitjackets imposed by gangster rap
during the 90s. He has spoken out against discrimination against gay
people and has constantly pushed his lyrics towards more reflective
areas. Where once even right-on artists such as Public Enemy sang lyrics
such as "Man to man, I don't know if they can/ From what I know the
parts don't fit", the new generation of rappers is moving away from such
homophobia. West Coast rapper Lil' B called his 2011 album I'm Gay (I'm
Happy), while hotly tipped Harlem MC A$AP Rocky renounced his own early
homophobia as "stupid" – in February this year he said hip-hop needed
to "stop being so close-minded because it will cause the genre to fail".
Another member of Odd Future, DJ Syd Da Kid, recently unveiled her side
project The Internet with a video that saw her snogging another girl at
a fairground.
All of which makes Odd Future's apparent homophobia more puzzling. Their lyrics caused them to be dropped from the bill of
Australian festival Big Day Out last November and they have faced
calls for protests outside shows
from anti-domestic violence groups. How can gay people feel comfortable
sharing a stage with a man shouting about "faggots"? As offensive as
some of Tyler and co's statements might appear, they are clearly not
laced with the same venom as those made by, say, Cypress Hill's Sen Dog,
who once told NME journalist Sylvia Patterson that they "don't get fags
… how can you not love pussy?"
They may use the language of hate
speak but, for Odd Future, these words are designed to upset and provoke
an older generation but little more – the lyrical equivalent of Sid
Vicious's swastika shirt. In fact, Odd Future's attitude towards their
fellow bandmates – Tyler the Creator, the collective's figurehead,
tweeted to say "My big brother finally fucking did that. Proud of that
nigga cause I know that shit is difficult" – reveals their true feelings
towards gay people, one in which it really doesn't matter who you fall
in love with.
The music world might be full of people making
outrageous and provocative declarations for the hell of it – but Ocean
has shown pop how to
really make a statement.
Tim Jonze @
'The Guardian'
