Song:Thinkin' 'Bout You
Album:Channel ORANGE
The success of Frank Ocean is not only a testament to his talent but also triumph over adversity especially his conflict with his record company. Ocean was already a successful songwriter and producer and could have stayed behind the scenes. But he wanted to be a star. He was born Christopher Breaux Oct. 28, 1987 in Long Beach, CA and he grew up in New Orleans. The name Frank Ocean is a tribute to the film Ocean's Eleven. After Hurricane Katrina destroyed his home recording studio, Ocean moved to Los Angeles and became a member of Odd Future. Producer Christopher "Tricky" Stewart convinced Ocean that he could be a singer and got him a deal with Island Def Jam. Stewart is the man behind Rhianna's Umbrella and is currently president of A & R at Epic Records. At first Ocean butted heads with Island Def Jam. But his highly acclaimed 2010 mixtape Nostalgia, Ultra won them over. So he started working on Channel ORANGE. Thinkin' 'Bout You was the first single. It reached #7 on the R & B Singles chart and #32 on the Billboard Hot 100. There is a video for the song but it's not very good. So I don't think that helped. Though Ocean wrote and produced most of Channel ORANGE with his long time pal James "Malay" Ho, he wrote and produced Thinkin' 'Bout You with Shea Taylor who has worked a lot with Ne-Yo. Ocean wrote Thinkin' 'Bout You for R & B singer Bridget Kelly. After Ocean released his own recording, Kelly changed the title of her recording to Thinking About Forever. She says the only thing that bothers her is when folks think her recording is a cover. Ocean has gotten a lot of publicity about his sexual orientation though it has nothing to do with his music. Ocean won a Best Contemporary Urban Album Grammy for Channel ORANGE. He recorded new music earlier this year and a new CD could be out by Christmas. Ocean is currently on tour in Europe. Here's Frank Ocean performing Thinkin' 'Bout You on Saturday Night Live.
No comments:
Post a Comment