Frank Ocean, Creativity, and remaining patient for Boys Don’t Cry

So Boys Don’t Cry didn’t drop Friday. Yep. The long anticipated follow up to Channel Orange is still a product of our imagination mixed with our ridiculously high expectations of what Frank Ocean might have in store for us.

It’s easy to feel let down, despite the fact Ocean himself never publicly said the album would be released on Friday, nor has he ever given an actual release date in the orthodox way. The library card with dates sprawled across it and the ‘mysterious’ live stream on his website almost seem like his own creative way of announcing his project, their ambiguity naturally leaves fans guessing though.

But amidst the disappointment it’s worth remembering why anyone could be drawn to an artist and their work to such an extent. Just why is there a such a solid and loyal fanbase dedicating their emotions to an album which still, after four years, has no clear release date?

To understand this you simply have to listen. Listen to Channel Orange, if in 2012, and the years since, it has somehow evaded you. Then you’ll understand. It’s rare any album is so well structured, so well delivered and so well received in this era. It was truly special.

But what’s perhaps most important to remember is the reason the album had such a lasting impact on those who listened to it.

For a start, it didn’t feature a weak song, and even the interludes seemed to only aid the overall aesthetic to the album. This aesthetic was crafted by a clear reflection on life experiences. Experiences which take time, cannot be manipulated and which in many ways take a lot of courage to share with the listener.

Shortly before the release of Channel Orange, Frank Ocean shared such an experience. He wrote a tumblr post entitled ‘thank you’s’, where he spoke about his relationship with a 19 year old man who he described as his ‘first love’.

It’s difficult to comprehend just how frightening sharing intimate details about your life like this can be. And as listeners it’s important to remember we have no control over what an artist chooses to share, and nor should we.

Therefore it’s essential we understand and respect the process, the mental strain, and most importantly the courage Frank took in sharing this information about his life with us. What he shared was not only incredibly personal, but also something which clearly had a profound impact on him once he had said it:

“I sat there and told my friend how I felt. I wept as the words left my mouth. I grieved for them, knowing I could never take them back for myself.”

Creativity is an intrinsic part of our everyday existence, and we forget that this process can be as daunting a prospect as anything else in our lives.

Because ultimately it’s our creations which define us and allow others to form judgement of us, purely based off how they perceive what we create.

Fortunately for Frank Ocean, his creation of Channel Orange received wonderful praise. The album was rewarded with his first Grammy, perhaps the ultimate recognition for any artist. And when a creation is loved like Channel Orange was it must surely feel fantastic, particularly an album that had so many different aspects of Frank’s life, emotions and unique style poured into it. The issue is, fans always want more. And that’s understandable.

In a BBC interview back in 2012, Ocean explained he was ‘inspired to tell stories’. He also explained ‘I do feel more like a visual artist when your storytelling is your own experiences and memories.’

In many ways, this was what made Channel Orange such a success. It was anything but generic, but instead an incredibly vivid and gripping experience for the listener. The ‘stories’ varied, but with each one there was no denying the raw emotion in them. What’s also worth noting once again is the fact that these real life experiences take time, they have to occur naturally and there’s no way to simply speed them up. That was also what made Channel Orange such a hit. It was real. The listener could relate to the stories in their own unique way. This was a breath of fresh air to the world of music in 2012. And it still is today.

Who knows why Boys Don’t Cry isn’t in our lives yet. One thing Frank Ocean fans do know is that they loved Channel Orange. And with that, there needs to be an understanding that it would be an incredible shame, if in any way, Frank himself was evenly remotely dissatisfied with the final product of his new album.

The pressure to surpass a masterpiece can be incredibly tough, but we should never forget what it took to create it in the first place. Four years may seem an unthinkably long time to wait for an album, but in a world where many artists release albums year after year with varying degrees of success, it’s refreshing Frank Ocean hasn’t been drawn into releasing this album any sooner than suits him.

Just as Frank Ocean sharing details about his personal life with us was entirely his decision, so is it entirely his decision when he decides to release this album. The fact he won’t be in anyway rushed, is a rare, admittedly somewhat frustrating, but incredibly important quality in an artist. Boys Don’t Cry will ultimately arrive exactly when he wants it to, it will sound as he wants it to, and he will continue to tell his stories as he wants to. The fact he is in control of his own creativity is exactly as it should be, and it’s important we as listeners respect this.

For now we continue to patiently wait, with the hope the artist who created Channel Orange can continue to tell his stories in such an epic way once again. Boys Don’t Cry will arrive eventually, and then we can decide whether the over four year wait was worthwhile. Knowing Frank Ocean, it will be.