my thoughts on obscure fanbase drama and how to feel when your favorite artist could be a scammer
Frank Ocean has been my favorite artist for over half my life. I grew up on channel ORANGE playing in the car on trips to H Mart or filling basement air with ambience when I played Legos while my mom worked, inspired by the album’s twists and turns over organic chords. I endured my first rejection as a moody teen to Blonde’s gentle atmosphere of affection. I cried on sleepless nights to the oasis of warmth in an abyss that is the album Endless, painstakingly downloaded onto Spotify from YouTube rips the night I heard “Wither” for the first time. My hero Frank, who is notorious for staying off the radar despite his fame and hasn’t released new music in two years, suddenly came out with a statement this week to announce his new luxury jewelry brand, Homer—a collection “no less expensive than Cartier” with pieces ranging from $395 to $1.9 million. In an interview with the Financial Times, he talked about the origins behind the brand: his wish...