Apr 20, 2023·1 reply
shaleiroseI do know how the majority feel because it’s pretty damn obvious to anyone with more than two brain cells
If you think your TL and the publications you read are the “majority” then you have a lot to learn lil bro
Apr 20, 2023·6 replies
FaithMight sound harsh, but sometimes cold/hard truth is the best medicine
We’ve all seen diehard and delusional fans grasping for any—every—excuse to support Frank. It was difficult for me, too, but I reached the conclusion he pulled Def Jam pt. II by meeting contractual obligations to swindle Coachella, and more importantly fans, to the tune of $5,000,000: half-ass his “first” show after throwing diva tantrums, then the medical excuse cop out to avoid breach of contract and possibly collect on insurance for weekend 2—strange the cancel decision didn’t arrive til Wednesday.
His willingness to collect on ridiculous prices for merch commemorating an ever-aging (albeit legendary) body of work is shameless. If only he approached his loyal fandom with new art when he gets hungrier for money…
This dude has parlayed his considerable musical gifts into a career as a jeweler and, apparently, soon a director for A24 (“see you soon” 🤡). Without the money he was paid, by fans, the worlds of fine jewelry and Hollywood wouldn’t have given a rat’s ass. We are constantly chided, “he doesn’t owe fans anything.” If so, he should at least respect the fans enough to quit cashing in on re-releasing 6+ year old material, tired/mid merch, and fly-by-night “performances”.
I think it’s fair to say that the rich and famous end up surrounded by enablers and yes-men who contribute to an environment of delusion, paranoia, and oftentimes, identity crisis. Justin Bieber might have enjoyed the show, but, my instinct couldn’t help consider that he so publicly declared support for a universally recognized catastrophe to ingratiate himself to Frank (I know I’m gonna catch s*** for this, but I really couldn’t help but think it).
Whilst some people think being permissive of Frank’s greed and manipulation in the name of grief is doing him a favor, I think it’s the exact opposite. Sometimes people need to be held up to a mirror to see problems afflicting them, and to hopefully better themselves.
The way I see it, a talented musician is wealth-obsessed and trying to make bandaids out of dollar bills; this at the expense of the most consistent $ source he’s ever known: music fans. His refusal to be real with his core audience is transparent and appalling. It’s even offensive, because he underestimates one of the most patient and understanding fandoms I’ve ever seen—his own.
In his writing and music, I’ve witnessed a sensitive and compassionate soul, and that soul is not consistent with this greed and callous disregard of other human beings…I just want to see him act with integrity, with or without music.
PS shout out to Morgan, the only real “beauty in chaos” was that show introducing us to a great personality and emerging artist!
Frank Ocean’s headlining set from a distance seemed to be a chaotic disaster. If you were online on Sunday, you for sure saw this rage, but if you were online on Monday the day after, hoooo boy, it was the wild west out there. A legendary artist came out of hiding and confused absolutely everyone. But what exactly even happened? Because the moment the livestream was cancelled, it seemed like almost the entire internet turned on Frank Ocean. Of course, this wouldn’t even be the first time that even happened. But I’m here to defend this man and the performance he gave. I’ve been seeing the massive internet pile-on Frank Ocean received and just been getting angry over so many of these comments about how he hates his fans to how he’s washed up. Or how he was lazy. Sorry but I’m here to g-check every single one of you. Because this was actually a great set, but it was definitely for actual fans of Frank Ocean. The real heads. How do I know this? Because everyone exposes themselves when saying this was all mellow. I’ll break down the set but also address the main points of contention. Let’s back up a bit. Frank Ocean was announced as the Coachella headliner in 2020, but because of the COVID-19 pandemic, that was cancelled and he was on the hook contractually to headline the festival somewhere down the line. Eventually, it was confirmed he would then headline the festival in 2023. Now ever since Blonde came out, back in 2016, we’ve had a trickle of new releases from Frank Ocean over the years. First was his was blonded radio project on Apple Music, where he premiered singles like Chanel and Calvin Harris’ Slide. It was actually quite a productive time for Frank as he was doing a lot of work, from Endless and Blonde to all these new singles. He would then go out and release a number of singles that somewhat hinted towards a new album that never materialized. He would then sporadically drop songs when a new episode of his Blonded Radio would release. Other than that, he’s been busy opening a jewelry store and his own jewelry line. He has hinted at not wanting to release a full length but then has begun hinting again that he was interested in long-form material once more. It’s been a wild ride being a Frank Ocean fan, that is for sure. Oh, and the big kicker, Frank Ocean hasn’t performed live since 2017. The expectations for this set were huge. So lets just talk about what the main problems this set had and what people took issue with.
Gonna be completely honest here. I absolutely do not care about this and have no idea why anyone else online does either. You were not there. From the reports on the ground I heard people talk about how punishing waiting an hour was and I’ve definitely been there. I still remember waiting for artists like Travis Scott at ACL before and it happens often so its almost like a coin flip. The important thing to note is people are using this excuse for his set being cut short. And yet, Rolling Stone reports that his set actually went over time and they played more music than originally planned. So like yeah I don’t care. You also don’t see anyone whining about BlackPink and Calvin Harris being 30 minutes late (other than INSIDER) either. But yeah like how this affects anyone outside of the actual festival is just so confusing. YOU WERE NOT THERE! You were at home, watching an IG live stream or watching YouTube videos after. Cry me a river. As for those actually there, I feel them. I do. But damn that was some real tension everyone was feeling over there. Was he gonna show up? Was he going to bail? Well he showed up. You’re already there at the festival, what are you going to do, leave? Hell no! Arguably the biggest issue everyone had with the set. This is quite literally the biggest point of contention. Towards the end of the show, Frank’s band or at the very least their drummer, started to perform Nikes (the first song off Blonde). There is no question that Nikes and later Nights are possibly Frank Ocean’s most well known songs. And they are incredibly beloved pieces of music. During the show though Frank Ocean would stop performing and one of his songs would play. This happened twice, not counting the DJ rave set. The first time was after Frank and the band performed Solo. A remixed version of Chanel started to play which would lead into the DJ Set. Later after an incredible acoustic version of Self Control was played, the same happened with Nikes and Nights. Listen I’m not gonna beat around the bush on this one. This was a big miscalculation on Frank’s part on not singing some of his biggest songs. So I can definitely feel the frustration from the people who were disappointed. At the same time however, watching the video footage it almost seems like this is what Frank intended to do for this portion. Somewhere around the 3:00 minute mark, Frank Ocean turns to the mic after just vibing along to Nights and Nikes and picks it up. He had already been letting the songs play and judging from multiple video sources was enjoying the fans singing along. Frank Ocean turning and going for the microphone during Nights After listening to the fans sing, Frank shakes his head and places the mic on the stand again
As he grabs the mic he makes this face and notices people singing, and places the mic down. I think he noticed this was more of a intimate moment for him and the fans and just decided to vibe out with everyone instead of singing live. This happens a lot in many types of shows, especially in pop and rap where the vocals are piped in. But this was the breaking point for many people in the audience and definitely for people online. Everyone was just sharing videos of Frank dancing and acting for the camera but not singing. This caused everyone to just s*** all over him and say he hates his fans so much. But upon closer inspection of the actual footage, people did seem to be having fun and no one was booing. No one even seemed remotely upset at what was transpiring in front of them. Now I think this small moment for the people in the audience was well intentioned from Frank Ocean, but he probably should have sang. At the same time, I won’t be surprised if he does the same thing next week. From conversations I’ve had with my cousin who was there and other people online, people generally were having a good time during this. There was definitely a disconnect between the performance, the fans in attendance and everyone else online. And this was just exacerbated by having no livestream and it was the end of the set. So people were furious that on top of no livestream, he didn’t sing Nikes, Nights or Chanel. Which caused the widespread hyperbole that Frank Ocean did not sing at all during his show. Despite how strong the show started and its adventurous experimental rave set, if you don’t send people home happy it could potentially ruin the entire evening for many. Was it disappointing? For sure, and he could’ve saved the whole thing if he had sang these, but hindsight is 20/20. I’m sorry but this one was some ridiculous projection. Just because the guy was sitting down most of the time, and then dared to not sing his big songs at the end did not mean he didn’t want to be there. In fact, it looked like he was having fun on stage. He even said that he was having fun while acknowledging the chaos of his own show. He was jumping around, dancing a bit, laughing it up, talking to the fans and more. People point to how he didn’t apologize for being late, when was the last time you saw anyone apologize for being late. Like honestly, be for real. When he did talk to the audience he gave a heartfelt story about the real reason he was playing Coachella (it was for his brother) and even explained why he had a DJ set. You can’t tell me the smiles of this guy were fake or disingenuous. I also feel like this was just generally people saying this because he was only playing mellower songs. I just don’t think people online have ever listened to Frank Ocean outside of his singles. Started to see the real reason people online were upset was because they just didn’t want to listen or watch these intimate performances and wanted something more along the lines of a Bad Bunny set where he’s just playing the hits. You were never going to get that. The entitlement people have over a concert they didn’t even pay for is ridiculous. The fans who were there had a much different story to tell though from the online conversation: It was difficult to see Frank Ocean outside of the main screen- Apr 20, 2023
FreightI don't know what would be worse...that you double posted this here and on the Frank Ocean subreddit or that you stole this off the subreddit and posted it here as your own
you built like a bag of milk
- Apr 20, 2023shaleirose
Okay so why are you even entertaining this discussion if you yourself don’t personally care how other people feel about things
Because I like to call out people that blatantly lie or speak in absolutes
- Apr 20, 2023·1 replyHURRYUPSONIC
Frank Ocean’s headlining set from a distance seemed to be a chaotic disaster. If you were online on Sunday, you for sure saw this rage, but if you were online on Monday the day after, hoooo boy, it was the wild west out there. A legendary artist came out of hiding and confused absolutely everyone. But what exactly even happened? Because the moment the livestream was cancelled, it seemed like almost the entire internet turned on Frank Ocean. Of course, this wouldn’t even be the first time that even happened. But I’m here to defend this man and the performance he gave. I’ve been seeing the massive internet pile-on Frank Ocean received and just been getting angry over so many of these comments about how he hates his fans to how he’s washed up. Or how he was lazy. Sorry but I’m here to g-check every single one of you. Because this was actually a great set, but it was definitely for actual fans of Frank Ocean. The real heads. How do I know this? Because everyone exposes themselves when saying this was all mellow. I’ll break down the set but also address the main points of contention. Let’s back up a bit. Frank Ocean was announced as the Coachella headliner in 2020, but because of the COVID-19 pandemic, that was cancelled and he was on the hook contractually to headline the festival somewhere down the line. Eventually, it was confirmed he would then headline the festival in 2023. Now ever since Blonde came out, back in 2016, we’ve had a trickle of new releases from Frank Ocean over the years. First was his was blonded radio project on Apple Music, where he premiered singles like Chanel and Calvin Harris’ Slide. It was actually quite a productive time for Frank as he was doing a lot of work, from Endless and Blonde to all these new singles. He would then go out and release a number of singles that somewhat hinted towards a new album that never materialized. He would then sporadically drop songs when a new episode of his Blonded Radio would release. Other than that, he’s been busy opening a jewelry store and his own jewelry line. He has hinted at not wanting to release a full length but then has begun hinting again that he was interested in long-form material once more. It’s been a wild ride being a Frank Ocean fan, that is for sure. Oh, and the big kicker, Frank Ocean hasn’t performed live since 2017. The expectations for this set were huge. So lets just talk about what the main problems this set had and what people took issue with.
Gonna be completely honest here. I absolutely do not care about this and have no idea why anyone else online does either. You were not there. From the reports on the ground I heard people talk about how punishing waiting an hour was and I’ve definitely been there. I still remember waiting for artists like Travis Scott at ACL before and it happens often so its almost like a coin flip. The important thing to note is people are using this excuse for his set being cut short. And yet, Rolling Stone reports that his set actually went over time and they played more music than originally planned. So like yeah I don’t care. You also don’t see anyone whining about BlackPink and Calvin Harris being 30 minutes late (other than INSIDER) either. But yeah like how this affects anyone outside of the actual festival is just so confusing. YOU WERE NOT THERE! You were at home, watching an IG live stream or watching YouTube videos after. Cry me a river. As for those actually there, I feel them. I do. But damn that was some real tension everyone was feeling over there. Was he gonna show up? Was he going to bail? Well he showed up. You’re already there at the festival, what are you going to do, leave? Hell no! Arguably the biggest issue everyone had with the set. This is quite literally the biggest point of contention. Towards the end of the show, Frank’s band or at the very least their drummer, started to perform Nikes (the first song off Blonde). There is no question that Nikes and later Nights are possibly Frank Ocean’s most well known songs. And they are incredibly beloved pieces of music. During the show though Frank Ocean would stop performing and one of his songs would play. This happened twice, not counting the DJ rave set. The first time was after Frank and the band performed Solo. A remixed version of Chanel started to play which would lead into the DJ Set. Later after an incredible acoustic version of Self Control was played, the same happened with Nikes and Nights. Listen I’m not gonna beat around the bush on this one. This was a big miscalculation on Frank’s part on not singing some of his biggest songs. So I can definitely feel the frustration from the people who were disappointed. At the same time however, watching the video footage it almost seems like this is what Frank intended to do for this portion. Somewhere around the 3:00 minute mark, Frank Ocean turns to the mic after just vibing along to Nights and Nikes and picks it up. He had already been letting the songs play and judging from multiple video sources was enjoying the fans singing along. Frank Ocean turning and going for the microphone during Nights After listening to the fans sing, Frank shakes his head and places the mic on the stand again
As he grabs the mic he makes this face and notices people singing, and places the mic down. I think he noticed this was more of a intimate moment for him and the fans and just decided to vibe out with everyone instead of singing live. This happens a lot in many types of shows, especially in pop and rap where the vocals are piped in. But this was the breaking point for many people in the audience and definitely for people online. Everyone was just sharing videos of Frank dancing and acting for the camera but not singing. This caused everyone to just s*** all over him and say he hates his fans so much. But upon closer inspection of the actual footage, people did seem to be having fun and no one was booing. No one even seemed remotely upset at what was transpiring in front of them. Now I think this small moment for the people in the audience was well intentioned from Frank Ocean, but he probably should have sang. At the same time, I won’t be surprised if he does the same thing next week. From conversations I’ve had with my cousin who was there and other people online, people generally were having a good time during this. There was definitely a disconnect between the performance, the fans in attendance and everyone else online. And this was just exacerbated by having no livestream and it was the end of the set. So people were furious that on top of no livestream, he didn’t sing Nikes, Nights or Chanel. Which caused the widespread hyperbole that Frank Ocean did not sing at all during his show. Despite how strong the show started and its adventurous experimental rave set, if you don’t send people home happy it could potentially ruin the entire evening for many. Was it disappointing? For sure, and he could’ve saved the whole thing if he had sang these, but hindsight is 20/20. I’m sorry but this one was some ridiculous projection. Just because the guy was sitting down most of the time, and then dared to not sing his big songs at the end did not mean he didn’t want to be there. In fact, it looked like he was having fun on stage. He even said that he was having fun while acknowledging the chaos of his own show. He was jumping around, dancing a bit, laughing it up, talking to the fans and more. People point to how he didn’t apologize for being late, when was the last time you saw anyone apologize for being late. Like honestly, be for real. When he did talk to the audience he gave a heartfelt story about the real reason he was playing Coachella (it was for his brother) and even explained why he had a DJ set. You can’t tell me the smiles of this guy were fake or disingenuous. I also feel like this was just generally people saying this because he was only playing mellower songs. I just don’t think people online have ever listened to Frank Ocean outside of his singles. Started to see the real reason people online were upset was because they just didn’t want to listen or watch these intimate performances and wanted something more along the lines of a Bad Bunny set where he’s just playing the hits. You were never going to get that. The entitlement people have over a concert they didn’t even pay for is ridiculous. The fans who were there had a much different story to tell though from the online conversation: It was difficult to see Frank Ocean outside of the main screenI saw bad bunny
- Apr 20, 2023OldAssChampion
If you think your TL and the publications you read are the “majority” then you have a lot to learn lil bro
It’s not just my timeline. Literally go and search anywhere online where people are discussing this performance, the reaction skews negative
- Apr 20, 2023·1 reply
This was the only Coachella performance the entire weekend that had any kind of controversy attached to it and bro doesn’t think that means anything
- Apr 20, 2023Faith
I saw bad bunny
Interesting but, There is something to be said about the exclusivity of this performance too. This is not a feeling people younger than me are going to have. These days we have everything readily available. Music as an artform, I’m going to be completely honest, is absolutely disrespected and not given the proper time to actually a***yze and dig into what makes it so good. Everyone wants it to be easy too. Just simple, play it and then forget about it. I already forgot about the Bad Bunny and BlackPink sets from the weekend. But I am still thinking about the Frank Ocean set. And it was because it was different. It was UNIQUE. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience (well maybe twice in a lifetime if he plays this weekend, which I’m sure he will). But what about Coachella and the staff that worked so hard on the alleged ice rink original setup? How dare Frank not advise the powers that be earlier! I feel for the people who spent hours on whatever original setup that was happening. I really do. Nothing sucks more than tearing down something you just built up because someone didn’t like it. I think the way they were able to make the stage as it was presented was very cool though. I loved the cameras. I loved how lavish and expensive it looked. It felt like an event. Like yeah I feel sorry for the ice skaters, but also not really cuz plans changed and I’m sure they were compensated. As for Coachella itself. Dude, cry me a river. They have enough money to cover any curfew fees, anything about the staff and the performers as well. People are going to say whatever they want to say about this show regardless. The mass narrative is already out there and people are just mindlessly parroting things from unofficial sources and painting an increasingly negative picture. Personally I feel like this is just wrong, and I choose to side with the independent artist over the people on the internet and Coachella staff. Sure, there were people who were disappointed at the festival, that is a guarantee. Coachella is one of the biggest and most mainstream music festivals in the world. The other wrinkle is that Coachella is also the premier influencer event of the year. Everyone wants to go and meet people, and you always hear how they’re not there for the music but instead content.
After watching the full Coachella set more than 5 times, it just gets better every time. The people who aren’t into it, I’m sorry but you just cannot hang. People are obviously upset and its tied to their massive expectations. But that is on them. The man deserves the respect for getting out there and doing something different. It doesn’t always work and it won’t resonate with everyone, but is he amazing. He is pushing the boundaries on live performance and being experimental as well while also giving you a window into his process and how he is feeling.
That’s how I felt about the whole thing. I was angry seeing all these posts disrespecting Frank Ocean, but I am just even more excited to see what he brings next.
Apr 20, 2023·1 replyHURRYUPSONICFrank Ocean’s headlining set from a distance seemed to be a chaotic disaster. If you were online on Sunday, you for sure saw this rage, but if you were online on Monday the day after, hoooo boy, it was the wild west out there. A legendary artist came out of hiding and confused absolutely everyone. But what exactly even happened? Because the moment the livestream was cancelled, it seemed like almost the entire internet turned on Frank Ocean. Of course, this wouldn’t even be the first time that even happened. But I’m here to defend this man and the performance he gave. I’ve been seeing the massive internet pile-on Frank Ocean received and just been getting angry over so many of these comments about how he hates his fans to how he’s washed up. Or how he was lazy. Sorry but I’m here to g-check every single one of you. Because this was actually a great set, but it was definitely for actual fans of Frank Ocean. The real heads. How do I know this? Because everyone exposes themselves when saying this was all mellow. I’ll break down the set but also address the main points of contention. Let’s back up a bit. Frank Ocean was announced as the Coachella headliner in 2020, but because of the COVID-19 pandemic, that was cancelled and he was on the hook contractually to headline the festival somewhere down the line. Eventually, it was confirmed he would then headline the festival in 2023. Now ever since Blonde came out, back in 2016, we’ve had a trickle of new releases from Frank Ocean over the years. First was his was blonded radio project on Apple Music, where he premiered singles like Chanel and Calvin Harris’ Slide. It was actually quite a productive time for Frank as he was doing a lot of work, from Endless and Blonde to all these new singles. He would then go out and release a number of singles that somewhat hinted towards a new album that never materialized. He would then sporadically drop songs when a new episode of his Blonded Radio would release. Other than that, he’s been busy opening a jewelry store and his own jewelry line. He has hinted at not wanting to release a full length but then has begun hinting again that he was interested in long-form material once more. It’s been a wild ride being a Frank Ocean fan, that is for sure. Oh, and the big kicker, Frank Ocean hasn’t performed live since 2017. The expectations for this set were huge. So lets just talk about what the main problems this set had and what people took issue with.
Gonna be completely honest here. I absolutely do not care about this and have no idea why anyone else online does either. You were not there. From the reports on the ground I heard people talk about how punishing waiting an hour was and I’ve definitely been there. I still remember waiting for artists like Travis Scott at ACL before and it happens often so its almost like a coin flip. The important thing to note is people are using this excuse for his set being cut short. And yet, Rolling Stone reports that his set actually went over time and they played more music than originally planned. So like yeah I don’t care. You also don’t see anyone whining about BlackPink and Calvin Harris being 30 minutes late (other than INSIDER) either. But yeah like how this affects anyone outside of the actual festival is just so confusing. YOU WERE NOT THERE! You were at home, watching an IG live stream or watching YouTube videos after. Cry me a river. As for those actually there, I feel them. I do. But damn that was some real tension everyone was feeling over there. Was he gonna show up? Was he going to bail? Well he showed up. You’re already there at the festival, what are you going to do, leave? Hell no! Arguably the biggest issue everyone had with the set. This is quite literally the biggest point of contention. Towards the end of the show, Frank’s band or at the very least their drummer, started to perform Nikes (the first song off Blonde). There is no question that Nikes and later Nights are possibly Frank Ocean’s most well known songs. And they are incredibly beloved pieces of music. During the show though Frank Ocean would stop performing and one of his songs would play. This happened twice, not counting the DJ rave set. The first time was after Frank and the band performed Solo. A remixed version of Chanel started to play which would lead into the DJ Set. Later after an incredible acoustic version of Self Control was played, the same happened with Nikes and Nights. Listen I’m not gonna beat around the bush on this one. This was a big miscalculation on Frank’s part on not singing some of his biggest songs. So I can definitely feel the frustration from the people who were disappointed. At the same time however, watching the video footage it almost seems like this is what Frank intended to do for this portion. Somewhere around the 3:00 minute mark, Frank Ocean turns to the mic after just vibing along to Nights and Nikes and picks it up. He had already been letting the songs play and judging from multiple video sources was enjoying the fans singing along. Frank Ocean turning and going for the microphone during Nights After listening to the fans sing, Frank shakes his head and places the mic on the stand again
As he grabs the mic he makes this face and notices people singing, and places the mic down. I think he noticed this was more of a intimate moment for him and the fans and just decided to vibe out with everyone instead of singing live. This happens a lot in many types of shows, especially in pop and rap where the vocals are piped in. But this was the breaking point for many people in the audience and definitely for people online. Everyone was just sharing videos of Frank dancing and acting for the camera but not singing. This caused everyone to just s*** all over him and say he hates his fans so much. But upon closer inspection of the actual footage, people did seem to be having fun and no one was booing. No one even seemed remotely upset at what was transpiring in front of them. Now I think this small moment for the people in the audience was well intentioned from Frank Ocean, but he probably should have sang. At the same time, I won’t be surprised if he does the same thing next week. From conversations I’ve had with my cousin who was there and other people online, people generally were having a good time during this. There was definitely a disconnect between the performance, the fans in attendance and everyone else online. And this was just exacerbated by having no livestream and it was the end of the set. So people were furious that on top of no livestream, he didn’t sing Nikes, Nights or Chanel. Which caused the widespread hyperbole that Frank Ocean did not sing at all during his show. Despite how strong the show started and its adventurous experimental rave set, if you don’t send people home happy it could potentially ruin the entire evening for many. Was it disappointing? For sure, and he could’ve saved the whole thing if he had sang these, but hindsight is 20/20. I’m sorry but this one was some ridiculous projection. Just because the guy was sitting down most of the time, and then dared to not sing his big songs at the end did not mean he didn’t want to be there. In fact, it looked like he was having fun on stage. He even said that he was having fun while acknowledging the chaos of his own show. He was jumping around, dancing a bit, laughing it up, talking to the fans and more. People point to how he didn’t apologize for being late, when was the last time you saw anyone apologize for being late. Like honestly, be for real. When he did talk to the audience he gave a heartfelt story about the real reason he was playing Coachella (it was for his brother) and even explained why he had a DJ set. You can’t tell me the smiles of this guy were fake or disingenuous. I also feel like this was just generally people saying this because he was only playing mellower songs. I just don’t think people online have ever listened to Frank Ocean outside of his singles. Started to see the real reason people online were upset was because they just didn’t want to listen or watch these intimate performances and wanted something more along the lines of a Bad Bunny set where he’s just playing the hits. You were never going to get that. The entitlement people have over a concert they didn’t even pay for is ridiculous. The fans who were there had a much different story to tell though from the online conversation: It was difficult to see Frank Ocean outside of the main screenAin't NOBODY reading alla that
what the hell did I just see
- Apr 20, 2023·1 replyshaleirose
This was the only Coachella performance the entire weekend that had any kind of controversy attached to it and bro doesn’t think that means anything
Controversy proves it was polarizing, whether it was good or bad is subjective
- Apr 20, 2023
I’m just here to cause chaos
Apr 20, 2023HURRYUPSONICFrank Ocean’s headlining set from a distance seemed to be a chaotic disaster. If you were online on Sunday, you for sure saw this rage, but if you were online on Monday the day after, hoooo boy, it was the wild west out there. A legendary artist came out of hiding and confused absolutely everyone. But what exactly even happened? Because the moment the livestream was cancelled, it seemed like almost the entire internet turned on Frank Ocean. Of course, this wouldn’t even be the first time that even happened. But I’m here to defend this man and the performance he gave. I’ve been seeing the massive internet pile-on Frank Ocean received and just been getting angry over so many of these comments about how he hates his fans to how he’s washed up. Or how he was lazy. Sorry but I’m here to g-check every single one of you. Because this was actually a great set, but it was definitely for actual fans of Frank Ocean. The real heads. How do I know this? Because everyone exposes themselves when saying this was all mellow. I’ll break down the set but also address the main points of contention. Let’s back up a bit. Frank Ocean was announced as the Coachella headliner in 2020, but because of the COVID-19 pandemic, that was cancelled and he was on the hook contractually to headline the festival somewhere down the line. Eventually, it was confirmed he would then headline the festival in 2023. Now ever since Blonde came out, back in 2016, we’ve had a trickle of new releases from Frank Ocean over the years. First was his was blonded radio project on Apple Music, where he premiered singles like Chanel and Calvin Harris’ Slide. It was actually quite a productive time for Frank as he was doing a lot of work, from Endless and Blonde to all these new singles. He would then go out and release a number of singles that somewhat hinted towards a new album that never materialized. He would then sporadically drop songs when a new episode of his Blonded Radio would release. Other than that, he’s been busy opening a jewelry store and his own jewelry line. He has hinted at not wanting to release a full length but then has begun hinting again that he was interested in long-form material once more. It’s been a wild ride being a Frank Ocean fan, that is for sure. Oh, and the big kicker, Frank Ocean hasn’t performed live since 2017. The expectations for this set were huge. So lets just talk about what the main problems this set had and what people took issue with.
Gonna be completely honest here. I absolutely do not care about this and have no idea why anyone else online does either. You were not there. From the reports on the ground I heard people talk about how punishing waiting an hour was and I’ve definitely been there. I still remember waiting for artists like Travis Scott at ACL before and it happens often so its almost like a coin flip. The important thing to note is people are using this excuse for his set being cut short. And yet, Rolling Stone reports that his set actually went over time and they played more music than originally planned. So like yeah I don’t care. You also don’t see anyone whining about BlackPink and Calvin Harris being 30 minutes late (other than INSIDER) either. But yeah like how this affects anyone outside of the actual festival is just so confusing. YOU WERE NOT THERE! You were at home, watching an IG live stream or watching YouTube videos after. Cry me a river. As for those actually there, I feel them. I do. But damn that was some real tension everyone was feeling over there. Was he gonna show up? Was he going to bail? Well he showed up. You’re already there at the festival, what are you going to do, leave? Hell no! Arguably the biggest issue everyone had with the set. This is quite literally the biggest point of contention. Towards the end of the show, Frank’s band or at the very least their drummer, started to perform Nikes (the first song off Blonde). There is no question that Nikes and later Nights are possibly Frank Ocean’s most well known songs. And they are incredibly beloved pieces of music. During the show though Frank Ocean would stop performing and one of his songs would play. This happened twice, not counting the DJ rave set. The first time was after Frank and the band performed Solo. A remixed version of Chanel started to play which would lead into the DJ Set. Later after an incredible acoustic version of Self Control was played, the same happened with Nikes and Nights. Listen I’m not gonna beat around the bush on this one. This was a big miscalculation on Frank’s part on not singing some of his biggest songs. So I can definitely feel the frustration from the people who were disappointed. At the same time however, watching the video footage it almost seems like this is what Frank intended to do for this portion. Somewhere around the 3:00 minute mark, Frank Ocean turns to the mic after just vibing along to Nights and Nikes and picks it up. He had already been letting the songs play and judging from multiple video sources was enjoying the fans singing along. Frank Ocean turning and going for the microphone during Nights After listening to the fans sing, Frank shakes his head and places the mic on the stand again
As he grabs the mic he makes this face and notices people singing, and places the mic down. I think he noticed this was more of a intimate moment for him and the fans and just decided to vibe out with everyone instead of singing live. This happens a lot in many types of shows, especially in pop and rap where the vocals are piped in. But this was the breaking point for many people in the audience and definitely for people online. Everyone was just sharing videos of Frank dancing and acting for the camera but not singing. This caused everyone to just s*** all over him and say he hates his fans so much. But upon closer inspection of the actual footage, people did seem to be having fun and no one was booing. No one even seemed remotely upset at what was transpiring in front of them. Now I think this small moment for the people in the audience was well intentioned from Frank Ocean, but he probably should have sang. At the same time, I won’t be surprised if he does the same thing next week. From conversations I’ve had with my cousin who was there and other people online, people generally were having a good time during this. There was definitely a disconnect between the performance, the fans in attendance and everyone else online. And this was just exacerbated by having no livestream and it was the end of the set. So people were furious that on top of no livestream, he didn’t sing Nikes, Nights or Chanel. Which caused the widespread hyperbole that Frank Ocean did not sing at all during his show. Despite how strong the show started and its adventurous experimental rave set, if you don’t send people home happy it could potentially ruin the entire evening for many. Was it disappointing? For sure, and he could’ve saved the whole thing if he had sang these, but hindsight is 20/20. I’m sorry but this one was some ridiculous projection. Just because the guy was sitting down most of the time, and then dared to not sing his big songs at the end did not mean he didn’t want to be there. In fact, it looked like he was having fun on stage. He even said that he was having fun while acknowledging the chaos of his own show. He was jumping around, dancing a bit, laughing it up, talking to the fans and more. People point to how he didn’t apologize for being late, when was the last time you saw anyone apologize for being late. Like honestly, be for real. When he did talk to the audience he gave a heartfelt story about the real reason he was playing Coachella (it was for his brother) and even explained why he had a DJ set. You can’t tell me the smiles of this guy were fake or disingenuous. I also feel like this was just generally people saying this because he was only playing mellower songs. I just don’t think people online have ever listened to Frank Ocean outside of his singles. Started to see the real reason people online were upset was because they just didn’t want to listen or watch these intimate performances and wanted something more along the lines of a Bad Bunny set where he’s just playing the hits. You were never going to get that. The entitlement people have over a concert they didn’t even pay for is ridiculous. The fans who were there had a much different story to tell though from the online conversation: It was difficult to see Frank Ocean outside of the main screenJFC, niggas dropping DJ Khaled album liner notes in here for an artist who truly doesn't give a f***
- Apr 20, 2023·2 repliesLukeToThe
Ain't NOBODY reading alla that
what the hell did I just see
AI, it's gotta be
Bro dropped an essay to reply to someone within 2 minutes - Apr 20, 2023·1 replyBlueChew Sean
AI, it's gotta be
Bro dropped an essay to reply to someone within 2 minutesIt's so specific though
- Apr 20, 2023
get this old ass bozo outta here
- Apr 20, 2023
crazy how many points from @Faith’s post were also pointed out by me. one thing they didn’t mention is bieber is a big fan of homer
- Apr 20, 2023·1 reply
I never do this, but I looked up the LSA thread just because I'm curious about what they're saying
Pretty tame tbh, yall going in harder than they are. Just a bunch of "I never liked Blonde, he lost me after Channel Orange", "If a black woman did that performance, she would not be getting all these excuses" posts and one person saying they heard Frank was f***ing underage twinks but this performance crosses a line
Apr 20, 2023God damn that solo remix is so fire
- Apr 20, 2023LukeToThe
It's so specific though
I skimmed through one of them, yeah Idk what prompts he could have given
But on this page, Faith posted and he replied with a mini-thesis within 2 minutes. Bro's WPM must be insane 
Apr 20, 2023·edited·1 reply
stayhealthy2this would likely affect his vocals particularly his high notes if but idk everybody a little different
you’re right but not if he’s not smoking, if he’s doing other s*** like ingesting pills then a lot less likely to affect his voice (source: im a vocalist)
- Apr 20, 2023
underachievercome on world, you cant go live performance was totally mesmerizing im glad he played it
so raw, yet so beautiful - especially for a freestyle
i don’t think it’s actually a freestyle, since it’s not called one, and most of the verse is definitely written out. love that track too though
- Apr 20, 2023BlueChew Sean
AI, it's gotta be
Bro dropped an essay to reply to someone within 2 minutesWas just giving a unique perspective on the whole thing
Apr 20, 2023·1 replyI can’t look away from this
- Apr 20, 2023OldAssChampion
Controversy proves it was polarizing, whether it was good or bad is subjective
Him dropping out and Coachella banning him from future festivals as well as not posting a word about his performance when they did for every other major act should tell you the performance was bad
- Apr 20, 2023BIG STEPPER BRODIE
I can’t look away from this