On Saturday, a photo was posted on Frank Ocean’s website hinting that fans won’t be waiting much longer for his highly anticipated follow-up to "channel Orange."
The R&B singer previously announced that "Boys Don't Cry" would be released in July 2015, which obviously did not happen. Ocean made no comments about the unfulfilled promise.
Following a rumor-turned-hoax circling around Twitter that the album would be released last month, fans wonder if this new photo should be taken with a grain of salt.
The image depicts a library card labeled “BOYS DON’T CRY” at the bottom. Miscellaneous dates are stamped all over the card, with most of the dates in chronological order going from top to bottom. The final stamped date is “JUL [scribbled out] 2016.”
Interestingly, towards the top of the library card, one of the dates reads “NOV 13, 2016.”
What exactly is being released on these two dates?
Ryan Breaux, Ocean’s brother, posted the same image on his Instagram with the hashtag “JULY2016.” Since the July date is at the very bottom of the card, it’s likely that this is the date you’re meant to pay more attention to.
The probable explanation is that the official album will be released this month, with additional content being released in November.
"Boys Don’t Cry" has gained considerable notoriety over the years due in part to Ocean’s secrecy: the singer has kept a relatively low profile after the critically acclaimed "channel Orange" was released four years ago.
He worked with former Odd Future member Earl Sweatshirt, co-producing and lending his voice on the album "Doris," released in 2013. He also appeared on a track of Kanye West’s album, "The Life of Pablo," released this year.
Earlier this year, Ocean held a small listening party for his upcoming album, in which snippets of the music were released online. The audio quality is not very good. Each audio file lasts no longer than 15 seconds.
Besides the false 2015 release date, Ocean has done little to promote his own album, prompting skepticism from his fans.
Fellow musicians Chance the Rapper and James Black both defended Ocean, each claiming they have listened to his new album.
“His new album is amazing,” Chance said.
“I was more a fan of him when I heard his newer music,” Blake said.
Last week, an image of Ocean donning in hospital scrubs circulated around the internet, much to his fans’ confusion. Many took to Twitter and jokingly suggested he had been in med school the past four years, which explained the slow progress in creating "Boys Don’t Cry."
Whether the new promotional image turns out to be true, one thing is for sure: the world is waiting for Frank Ocean. While not everybody is a fan, enough people are keeping such a close watch that whenever any news pops up about him, even a couple pictures of the man wearing scrubs, it quickly makes its rounds through every corner of the internet.
Although Ocean is not promoting the album the way other artists do nowadays, the fact that he is taking his time to perfect the album only shows that he has respect for his work and for his fans, only wanting what’s best for their ears.
