Research Paper
Purcell 1
Riley Purcell
Holan
5 May 2017
English
Research Paper
Christopher Francis (a.k.a Frank Ocean) is a singer, rapper and composer. He makes some of the top songs of the decade and including some top billboard songs. He not only started making his own music, but composed for many other musicians as well. Most could say that he lives through the American dream because he started from nothing and worked his way to an A list celebrity, he has made a true comeback ever since his music he had created in 2005 that potentially could have the been the true beginning of his amazing career, was destroyed by hurricane Katrina. After the incident he had to start over and create more music, however, this was his chance to recreate his songs and make them better before. Frank Ocean is coming out with new music constantly recently, through his work he writes about different lifestyles and stories that relate to today's issues and relatable quotes. His hard work got him to where he is now. Frank Ocean sincerely is passionate about his music, just through his lyrics you can hear that he puts work and time into making genuinely made music, truly living the american dream which in his case is making millions off the thing he loves to do the most.
It all started when Francis when was born, in his biography online it says,” Christopher Francis Ocean, also known as Frank Ocean, was born in Long Beach, California, on October 28, 1987. He grew up in New Orleans, but moved to Los Angeles in his late teens to pursue a career
Purcell 2
in music. “ (“Frank Ocean.” AND) Frank Ocean grew up in New Orleans where he started writing and composing music, it is what he always wanted to do. He was influenced by the jazz invested town. When he moved to New Orleans, he knew that making music was his calling. During high school he started recording music at a recording studio, ready to make it big. In 2005, he enrolled into the University of New Orleans. In 2006 was the devastating hurricane that took over New Orleans, “Hurricane Katrina hit and wreaked havoc on the region. Amidst the chaos, the facility where Ocean was recording at the time was badly flooded and looted, prompting him to set aside his academic ambitions” ( Frank Ocean.” ND). This definitely did not stop Christopher, he moved to Los Angeles to start over. He had only planned staying there for just a short while but after meeting so many new people and meaningful contacts in the music industry. He later moved to Los Angeles for sure and signed a huge deal with a music company there he wrote for top artists like Justin Bieber as well as Beyonce. This was just the beginning of it all for Christopher. Through this contract he met the hip hop group “Odd Future” who highly influenced him to start making his own music. Around this time, “he also met producer Tricky Stewart, who helped land Ocean a contract with Def Jam as a solo artist. The following year, Ocean officially changed his name to Christopher Francis Ocean, believing that the new name would look better on magazine covers.” ( Frank Ocean “ ND)
Frank Ocean then started publishing songs on Tumblr from his first album “Nostalgia, Ultra”. After releasing songs he got into trouble for using samples without using permission. But, after clearing everything up, popular artists like Jay Z, Kanye West and Tyler, the Creator's asked Ocean to appear in their songs. Tyler, the Creator's Goblin ("She," "Window"), Beyoncé's 4 ("I
Purcell 3
Miss You"), and Jay-Z and Kanye West's Watch the Throne ("No Church in the Wild," "Made in America"). Def Jam's plan for the release of Nostalgia, Lite -- an EP-length version of the mixtape -- was scrapped, yet the songs "Novacane" (produced by Stewart) and "Swim Good" (MIDI Mafia) were released as singles with accompanying videos. The former reached number 17 on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop chart (“Frank Ocean”, AND). Being on Billboard's top R&B/ Hip Hop charts was the turning point for Ocean. Just a year later he released “Channel Orange, which was such a huge hit. In fact in the first year it had been released it was on the top charts for weeks, also winning many awards including a grammy for “Best Urban Contemporary Album”. After winning many awards many listeners were wondering who the songs of heartbreak was about. Later that he year he came out as gay. Ocean's lauded 2012 debut, Channel Orange, marked a watershed in the music industry. A sprawling and gorgeous blend of R&B, hip-hop, rock, pop and funk, the album came stocked with vivid, poetic accounts of unchecked materialism and addiction, but it's showstoppers were songs that seemed to chronicle Ocean's own heartache, specifically his one-sided affection for another man (Lamphier, Jason 2016).
After Channel Orange, people everywhere expected a new amazing album to come out to shock the world. But year after year Frank Ocean kept quiet. Until 2016 and Frank Ocean uploaded a music video of a song he wrote called “Endless”. It dropped on Apple music and people everywhere listened to it expected a soon album to come out. Which did happen just hours later, called “Blonde”. “Frank Ocean earns his first No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart with the arrival of Blonde. The set, which was released on Aug. 20, bows atop the list with
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276,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending Aug. 25, according to Nielsen Music”(Caulfield Keith, 2016). The album stunned the world. It was billboard charts for weeks and do this day Frank Ocean is one of the top R&B/Hip Hop artists in this generation. Now after releasing this album he has done new singles in 2017, as well as singles with other artists like Jay Z and Calvin Harris.
After listening to Frank Ocean for the first time, he made me feel connected because his music was so relatable to people to today's date. His music just releases so many emotions and you feel from him listening to his songs. He worked so hard from the day he got his first publication deal to the last album he has dropped. He has done it all for his fans and himself, he lives through the his music and makes millions every day doing what he loves. That is truly the American dream.
Riley Purcell
Holan
5 May 2017
English
Research Paper
Christopher Francis (a.k.a Frank Ocean) is a singer, rapper and composer. He makes some of the top songs of the decade and including some top billboard songs. He not only started making his own music, but composed for many other musicians as well. Most could say that he lives through the American dream because he started from nothing and worked his way to an A list celebrity, he has made a true comeback ever since his music he had created in 2005 that potentially could have the been the true beginning of his amazing career, was destroyed by hurricane Katrina. After the incident he had to start over and create more music, however, this was his chance to recreate his songs and make them better before. Frank Ocean is coming out with new music constantly recently, through his work he writes about different lifestyles and stories that relate to today's issues and relatable quotes. His hard work got him to where he is now. Frank Ocean sincerely is passionate about his music, just through his lyrics you can hear that he puts work and time into making genuinely made music, truly living the american dream which in his case is making millions off the thing he loves to do the most.
It all started when Francis when was born, in his biography online it says,” Christopher Francis Ocean, also known as Frank Ocean, was born in Long Beach, California, on October 28, 1987. He grew up in New Orleans, but moved to Los Angeles in his late teens to pursue a career
Purcell 2
in music. “ (“Frank Ocean.” AND) Frank Ocean grew up in New Orleans where he started writing and composing music, it is what he always wanted to do. He was influenced by the jazz invested town. When he moved to New Orleans, he knew that making music was his calling. During high school he started recording music at a recording studio, ready to make it big. In 2005, he enrolled into the University of New Orleans. In 2006 was the devastating hurricane that took over New Orleans, “Hurricane Katrina hit and wreaked havoc on the region. Amidst the chaos, the facility where Ocean was recording at the time was badly flooded and looted, prompting him to set aside his academic ambitions” ( Frank Ocean.” ND). This definitely did not stop Christopher, he moved to Los Angeles to start over. He had only planned staying there for just a short while but after meeting so many new people and meaningful contacts in the music industry. He later moved to Los Angeles for sure and signed a huge deal with a music company there he wrote for top artists like Justin Bieber as well as Beyonce. This was just the beginning of it all for Christopher. Through this contract he met the hip hop group “Odd Future” who highly influenced him to start making his own music. Around this time, “he also met producer Tricky Stewart, who helped land Ocean a contract with Def Jam as a solo artist. The following year, Ocean officially changed his name to Christopher Francis Ocean, believing that the new name would look better on magazine covers.” ( Frank Ocean “ ND)
Frank Ocean then started publishing songs on Tumblr from his first album “Nostalgia, Ultra”. After releasing songs he got into trouble for using samples without using permission. But, after clearing everything up, popular artists like Jay Z, Kanye West and Tyler, the Creator's asked Ocean to appear in their songs. Tyler, the Creator's Goblin ("She," "Window"), Beyoncé's 4 ("I
Purcell 3
Miss You"), and Jay-Z and Kanye West's Watch the Throne ("No Church in the Wild," "Made in America"). Def Jam's plan for the release of Nostalgia, Lite -- an EP-length version of the mixtape -- was scrapped, yet the songs "Novacane" (produced by Stewart) and "Swim Good" (MIDI Mafia) were released as singles with accompanying videos. The former reached number 17 on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop chart (“Frank Ocean”, AND). Being on Billboard's top R&B/ Hip Hop charts was the turning point for Ocean. Just a year later he released “Channel Orange, which was such a huge hit. In fact in the first year it had been released it was on the top charts for weeks, also winning many awards including a grammy for “Best Urban Contemporary Album”. After winning many awards many listeners were wondering who the songs of heartbreak was about. Later that he year he came out as gay. Ocean's lauded 2012 debut, Channel Orange, marked a watershed in the music industry. A sprawling and gorgeous blend of R&B, hip-hop, rock, pop and funk, the album came stocked with vivid, poetic accounts of unchecked materialism and addiction, but it's showstoppers were songs that seemed to chronicle Ocean's own heartache, specifically his one-sided affection for another man (Lamphier, Jason 2016).
After Channel Orange, people everywhere expected a new amazing album to come out to shock the world. But year after year Frank Ocean kept quiet. Until 2016 and Frank Ocean uploaded a music video of a song he wrote called “Endless”. It dropped on Apple music and people everywhere listened to it expected a soon album to come out. Which did happen just hours later, called “Blonde”. “Frank Ocean earns his first No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart with the arrival of Blonde. The set, which was released on Aug. 20, bows atop the list with
Purcell 4
276,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending Aug. 25, according to Nielsen Music”(Caulfield Keith, 2016). The album stunned the world. It was billboard charts for weeks and do this day Frank Ocean is one of the top R&B/Hip Hop artists in this generation. Now after releasing this album he has done new singles in 2017, as well as singles with other artists like Jay Z and Calvin Harris.
After listening to Frank Ocean for the first time, he made me feel connected because his music was so relatable to people to today's date. His music just releases so many emotions and you feel from him listening to his songs. He worked so hard from the day he got his first publication deal to the last album he has dropped. He has done it all for his fans and himself, he lives through the his music and makes millions every day doing what he loves. That is truly the American dream.