Though it’s taken almost an entire presidential term, a new Frank Ocean record finally seems to have arrived. Boys Don’t Cry, the imminent follow-up to Ocean’s 2012 major label debut, Channel Orange, is set to drop tomorrow, and it comes saddled with damn near impossible expectations.
For most every other artist, a four-year gap would simply be a patient or strategic way of playing the album cycle. We still don’t have new music, or even any indication of new music, from Japandroids, Dirty Projectors, or Fiona Apple, all of whom also last released music in 2012. Come to think of it, a four-year gap would be ahead of schedule for Fiona Apple.
But Ocean isn’t like those other artists. Despite having one instant classic under his belt, his legacy is still somewhat malleable and yet to be firmly cemented. He definitely has fans — millions of them, actually — but he’s taken a risk that most young artists would consider foolish, antagonizing those fans with a drawn-out saga of teases, red herrings, and outright missed deadlines. Along the way, he’s engendered feelings of distrust and even mild betrayal.
Part of the frustration stems from Ocean’s caginess with details. There have been hints that he has new material in the pipeline, but most of those hints have turned out to be cryptic or misleading. His shop class live stream, which began on Monday morning, was the latest breadcrumb in a long trail, and later that night, sources close to the project confirmed Boys Don’t Cry’s Friday release as an Apple Music exclusive.
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