Frank Ocean

On his birthday in 2010, inspired by Frank Sinatra and his film, ‘Ocean’s 11’, the singer unofficially changed his name to Frank Ocean. The name change was legalized on April 23, 2015.

Although he has never said anything explicitly about his sexual orientation, Frank Ocean is possibly a gay. In an open letter in 2012, he had publicly acknowledged that his first love was a man. He was supported in this by many celebrities, including the members of the hip hop industry,

In 2016, Frank Ocean was very much moved when Omar Mateen shot dead 49 people at a gay night club in Orlando, Florida. On this occasion, he wrote an essay, conveying his anguish at the negative attitude faced by homosexuals, forcing many to commit suicide.

Frank Ocean was born as Christopher Edwin Breaux on October 28, 1987 in Long Beach California. At home, he was called Lonny after his maternal grandfather, Lionel Breaux.

Christopher was raised by his mother, Katonya Breaux, who later became a successful business woman. Initially dealing in construction, she later founded Unsun Cosmetics, which specialized in sunscreens. His father, Calvin Edward Cooksey, abandoned the family when Christopher was six years old.

Christopher was possibly born younger of his parents’ two children; he has an elder sister named Ashley “Nikkii” Ellison. He also has a half brother named Ryan Breaux, with whom he is very close.

When Christopher was five years old, the family moved to New Orleans, Louisiana, where he lived until 2005. Raised in a musical environment, he was exposed to jazz scenes early in life, listening to the works of noted singers like Celine Dion and Anita Baker on his mother’s car stereo.

He showed his musical inclinations early in his life. By thirteen, he had decided to become a songwriter and started recording music while he was in his high school, paying for the studio time by doing odd jobs such as washing neighbors’ cars, mowing lawns and walking dogs.

After his recording facilities were destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, Christopher realized that there is no scope for continuing the recording in New Orleans. He therefore moved to Los Angeles, initially for six weeks. But as he started making meaningful contacts in the music industry, he decided to prolong his stay.

During this early period in Los Angeles, he maintained himself by working in various capacities at Subway, Kinko's, AT&T and Allstate Corporation. At the last mentioned company, he was a claim processor. However, he spent too much time at recording studios and was always late for work.

Concurrently with earning his daily subsistence, he continued to pursue his musical goal. Very soon, he was able to record some demos at a friend's studio and submit them to local labels, eventually receiving a song-writing deal, which enabled him to write songs for established singers.

Possibly in 2007, he sold his first song to Noel Gourdin. In 2008, he co-wrote ‘Quickly’ for John Legend’s third album, ‘Evolver’ and also lent his voice to the backing vocals. In the same year, he wrote ‘1st and ‘Love’ and ‘Locket (Locked in Love)’ for Brandy Norwood’s album ‘Human’.

In 2008, he co-wrote ‘Bigger’ with Justin Bieber, Dapo Torimiro, Kevin Risto and Waynne Nugent for Bieber’s 2009 debut album, ‘My World’. .Another important work of this period was ‘I Miss You’. The track was co-written in 2009 for Beyoncé Knowles’ 2011 album ‘4’.

In 2010, Christopher joined Odd Future, writing ‘SteamRoller’ for ‘Rolling Papers’, the debut mixtape by rapper Domo Genesis. In the same year, he officially changed his name to Christopher Francis Ocean as he thought that it would look better on magazine covers.

While working with Odd Future, Ocean’s musical talent began to generate interest in the music industry and he began to garner acclaim. Yet, he did not hear anything from Def Jam Recordings, with whom he had signed a contact in 2009. He therefore decided to take matters into his own hands.

On February 16, 2011, Ocean self-released his debut mixtape, ‘Nostalgia, Ultra’ without any initial promotion on his Tumblr site to a great critical acclaim. It featured surreal themes and unique R&B aesthetics.

In May, Def Jam announced their intension to release the mixtape as an EP, but nothing came out of it. However, the success of the mixtape strengthened Ocean’s relationship with the recording company. .

On May 31, 2011, ‘Novacane’, one of the tracks from ‘Nostalgia, Ultra’ was released officially, charting at the seventeenth position on the US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs within four weeks. Its music video was released on June 16.