Sunday Diva/Three From The Hip: Frank Ocean

Sunday Diva/Three From The Hip: 

Frank Ocean

In my big gay church there is a wing dedicated to The Divas Who Represent. They're not all flashy or cocks of the walk - in fact, some never officially came out of the closet during their lifetime - but they are all extraordinarily gifted, sharing their songs, music, and insights, allowing the world at large to learn, in the most subtle of ways, what it's like 'being green'. Thanks to their gifts and their bravery, they help make the world a little more gay every time their voices are heard. And that's been their true super power all along... their voice; they were heard. They mattered. And, whether they liked it or not, they represented!

One refreshing take?

Frank Ocean.

Deep responds to deep.

Fearless, he writes from a perspective we've never experienced - it is both intensely intimate, yet thoroughly universal. 

He observes, he comments, he delves, he reveals. There are no half-truths presented, this is the real deal. 

His voice? One for the ages.

And though he's not released a new album since 2016, he's still very much with us, putting out the occasional recording to keep our eyes looking his way.

This is not music as doled out by labels for the masses... this is art. And art takes time, for art is ever-evolving.

He's stayed true to who he is from day one... it's all been on his terms.

And let's hope it remains so. 

The gospel according to him?

Well, here's three from the hip, dropping from his lips.

The topic? Art

"Art's everything we hope life would be, a lot of times."

"I've always wanted to make a career in the arts, and I think that my only hope at doing that is to make it more about the work."

"The way I approach this thing, when I started to get my head screwed on straight and really trying to make something of myself as an artist, when I was 19 or 20, it became more about function for me. Like, what is this song doing to you? What is the function of this type of artform? What is it doing?"

"I never think about myself as an artist working in this time. I think about it in macro."

"I like the anonymity that directors can have about their films."

"Obviously, the cinematography of films is art, just as a still shot can be art. If I'm watching a Wes Anderson movie, the color palettes alone, and the way they're painted, could be art. With music, you're a little bit limited, of course, because it's only audio."  

"Whenever I think about movies, I always look at that art process as having the best of a lot of worlds. Because if you watch a great film, you have a musical element to it, not just on the scoring, but in the way that the shots are edited - that has music and rhythm and time."

"In art, at a certain level, there is no 'better than.' It's just about trying to operate for yourself on the most supreme level, artistically, that you can and hoping that people get it. Trusting that, just because of the way people are built and how interconnected we are, greatness will translate and symmetry will be recognized."

"We all know we have a finite period of time. I just feel if I'm going to be alive, I want to be challenged - to be as immortal as possible. The path to that isn't an easy way, but it's a rewarding way."

Novocane - Frank Ocean

Super Rich Kids - Frank Ocean feat. Earl Sweatshirt

In My Room - Frank Ocean

And one last parting shot

"People are just afraid of things too much. Afraid of things that don't necessarily merit fear."

"I don't fear anybody... at all."

"I've gotten used to being Frank Ocean."