Frank Ocean is a busy man, known for his mysteriousness, with an always behind-the-scenes lifestyle. However, luckily for us he’s just shared a personal letter and a 32-page visual essay through Vice Media’s i-D Magazine.
In the letter, Ocean explores the mental and emotional space he finds himself in at the ripe age of 30. “You can answer a lot of questions with ‘Yes.’ But you can answer many more with ‘No,'” begins Ocean.
“No is run-of-the-mill. Yes is a gem. Whenever I feel alone I watch live television, something about it being okay on their end makes it okay on mine. Onstage one in-ear is my mic feed and the other one is a Tim Ferriss podcast. I go long periods without talking but I raise my voice when poeple on the phone are in loud places. I’ve never given my fans nicknames because the ones I think of are embarrassing. I’m world famous. I had peace in my twenties. Big Pharrell praying hands those weren’t mutually exclusive. If you want to make your 30s sound appealing just mention ‘sexual prime’. Re: the photos… as Karl Lagerfield would say they ‘came to me in a dream.’ Summer two thousand and seventeen. We leaned into it. Bananaberry-flavoured candies at the bottom of the cup. I’ll never know why or what’s up with campouts for Szechuan sauce at McDonalds. But I’m way into it. Issa Dreamworld. If you liked two thousand and seventeen then you’ll love two thousand and eighteen.”
Ocean’s visual essay is a collection of photos from his time on tour. In the photos, which were apparently taken by Ocean himself, we see images of the singer and his accompanying musicians at various stages of his tour, usually offstage. Here’s a look at some of our favourites:
Check out the exclusive full version of Frank Ocean’s visual essay over at i-D.