Frank Ocean caused a stir on Independence Day when he took to Tumblr to post a coming out letter that addressed his relationship with another man. The Odd Future crooner has remained quiet on the letter up until now, talking with GQ magazine about the decision to put his words out there for the public to see.
During the interview, Ocean said that a journalist referencing the male pronouns in his songs encouraged him to write the letter. After he posted it, he felt relief. “The night I posted it, I cried like a fucking baby. It was like all the frequency just clicked to a change in my head,” he said. “All the receptors were now receiving a different signal, and I was happy. I hadn’t been happy in so long. I’ve been sad again since, but it’s a totally different take on sad. There’s just some magic in truth and honesty and openness.”
Ocean said that he would not address whether he’s bisexual or homosexual, since he doesn’t want to be put in a box. But he noted that he was aware what the reveal could do to his career.
“I had those fears. In black music, we’ve got so many leaps and bounds to make with acceptance and tolerance in regard to that issue. It reflects something just ingrained, you know. When I was growing up, there was nobody in my family—not even my mother—who I could look to and be like, ‘I know you’ve never said anything homophobic.’ So, you know, you worry about people in the business who you’ve heard talk that way. Some of my heroes coming up talk recklessly like that. It’s tempting to give those views and words—that ignorance—more attention than they deserve. Very tempting.
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“Some people said, ‘He’s saying he fell in love with a guy for hype,'” he continued. “As if that’s the best hype you can get in hip-hop or black music. So I knew that if I was going to say what I said, it had to be in concert with one of the most brilliant pieces of art that has come out in my generation. And that’s what I did. Why can I say that? Why I don’t have to affect all this humility and shit is because I worked my ass off. I worked my face off. And the part that you love the most is the easiest part for me. So I’ll do it again.”
