Frank Ocean is somewhat of a sore topic for many fans, as he is the most anti-transparent artist of this decade. An extremely talented artist releases his freshman solo album, Channel Orange in 2012, and it blows up, selling 500,000 copies in the US alone. Frank does a few concerts and interviews, then drops hints of his next big release coming the following summer. Everyone is ecstatic, bombarding his twitter and tumblr accounts for a release date. Frank replies to one post regarding the release date, with "When summer comes round again." We hear little else beyond that point, besides the occasional promise of a release followed by disappointment. By this point, other artists have emerged to steal the spotlight, and great albums are appearing every day. Eventually, after nearly a year since Ocean last updated his website, boysdontcry.co, everyone gives up.
Then comes the self-proclaimed genius and prodigy Kanye West, releasing one of the most anticipated albums of 2016, The Life of Pablo. Kanye is apparently $53 million dollars in debt by this point, but his album draws the attention of thousands. One track in particular is extremely picked apart, the song "Wolves." It's this song that marks Frank Ocean's first big name feature in years. Shortly after The Life of Pablo comes out, boysdontcry.co gets an update. An image appears of a library book due date ticket, with multiple stamps of different dates from 2015 to 2016. At the very bottom there's a stamp reading July 2016, with the day covered up. Frank's fans finally have a small hint after nearly four years of waiting.
July rolls around and everyone is on the edge of their seat, hopping that Ocean won't let everyone down again. It has officially been over four years since Channel Orange, and the internet couldn't be more excited. Well July comes and goes, with zero word of release, anger and disappointment surround the R&B/Hip-Hop communities of the web, but on August 1st, something happens. Golf Media, Tyler, The Creator's network, confirms that "Boy's Don't Cry" will release August 5th of this year as an Apple Music exclusive.
Finally, the moment everyone has been waiting for. This Friday, the most elusive and anticipated album of the year will release (maybe). So get ready world, for Frank Ocean's sophomore album. Rumors and co-lab artists are claiming this album will blow Channel Orange out of the water, but with a development that was two years late, I'm not exactly holding my breath. Regardless, this Friday is one to be excited for.
