R&B star and influential pop artist Frank Ocean had his Tumblr account hacked according to The Fader, undermining rumors regarding the release of new collaboration with Andre 3000 and SZA. Earlier press stories, which were fueled by the fake Tumblr posts, made by the alleged hacker stated that the artist was going to place “unreleased Frank songs” for purchase, and would leak the aforementioned collab if an Instagram post received 25000 likes.
One of the first posts read: “March 1st… SOLANA + KL + ANDRE… HERE FOR THE BEANS.” Another one read “? (2019) ? (2019) ? (2020),” hinting at the possibility of two music releases this year, and one the following year.
These posts were both unauthorized and not authentic according to later stories following these false announcements. They have also been taken down in response.
Although Ocean collaborated with Andre 3000 for a special version of “Solo,” on his 2016 album release Blonde, it is unknown if he has worked with, or will work with SZA in the future. The artist has covered “The Weekend,” by SZA however, with a snippet of the cover being shared on the artist’s social media last month.
Ocean is known for his sporadic album releases, which garner a huge amount of attention and critical acclaim upon their release. His 2016 album Blonde, a follow-up to his 2012 album Channel Orange, was four years in the making, and held numerous release dates and titles which kept getting changed or pushed back.
Although Ocean hasn’t released any complete album projects since Blonde, he has released a handfull of solo tracks including: “Provider,” “Lens,” a cover of “Moon River,” and “Chanel.” “Chanel,” was released on the artists Beats 1 Radio program which ran from February to August of last year, under the title of blonded RADIO.
Rumors of new album go back to 2017, with a series of social media posts that hinted that the artist was sitting on new material. A short statement on his Tumblr read: “Well I️ made the album before 30, I JUST AINT PUT THAT BITCH OUT!”
In addition to his music releases, Ocean also hardly performs live, with his latest show being the Flow Festival, in Helsinki, FInland, back in 2017. A few other scheduled live performances at Primavera Sound, and Sasquatch Fest, were both cancelled that same year.
The artist attributed these releases and rare live appearances to his growing fame which exploded in 2012 due to the release of Channel Orange. This album received numerous accolades and even a Grammy nomination for album of the year, which it ultimately lost.
“I always thought about it like, if your house is on fire, you need to get out of the house,” said Frank, speaking on his 2013 escape to London according to the Fader. The artist had taken up residency in that city after the release of Channel Orange.
“I had, in the midst of all of this, this feeling of isolation,” Frank explained further in an interview. “Within my circle, there was a lot of places I thought I could turn that I felt like I couldn’t turn to anymore.”
Photo Credit: Marisa Rose Ficara
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