Biography
Ocean was born in Long Beach, California. When he was around 5 years old, he and his family moved to New Orleans, Louisiana. He grew up around its local jazz scene and listened to his mother's CDs on her car stereo, including albums by Céline Dion, Anita Baker, and "The Phantom of the Opera" soundtrack. As a teenager, he did neighborhood chores and saved up money to rent studio time. He enrolled in the University of New Orleans and moved into its dormitory in 2005.
In 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit Ocean's hometown of New Orleans and his recording facility, which was looted and destroyed by floodwater. To continue recording music, he moved to Los Angeles and intended to stay for six weeks. However, after acclimating himself with music industry circles, Ocean planned to stay longer and develop his music career. He recorded demos at a friend's studio and shopped them around Los Angeles. After getting a songwriting deal, he started working with other record producers and writing songs for artists such as Justin Bieber, John Legend, Damienn Jones and Brandy Norwood.
After meeting them in 2009 through networking, Ocean joined the Los Angeles-based hip hop collective OFWGKTA, also known as Odd Future. His friendship with Odd Future member 'Tyler The Creator' reinvigorated Ocean's songwriting. In late 2009, he met Christopher Stewart, who helped him sign a contract with Def Jam Recordings as a solo artist, though he was initially unable to build a relationship with the company. In 2010, through a legal website, he changed his name from Christopher Breaux to Christopher Francis William Ocean, which was inspired partly by the 1960 film Ocean's Eleven (1960).
On February 18, 2011, Ocean released his first mixtape, Nostalgia, Ultra, to critical acclaim. The mixtape focuses on interpersonal relationships, personal reflection and social commentary. In April 2011, Ocean stated that his relationship with Def Jam strengthened since the release of the mixtape.
Ocean first appeared in the 'Tyler The Creator' music video for the single "She", from Tyler's second studio album Goblin. His first performance was in collaboration with Odd Future at the 2011 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, where he later joined them for their first tour across the east coast of the United States. On May 19, 2011 Ocean's record label Def Jam announced its plans to re-release Nostalgia, Ultra as an EP. The single "Novacane" was released to iTunes in May 2011, and the EP originally was set to be released the next month, but was delayed. In June 2011, Ocean revealed that he would be working on the upcoming Ye and Jay-Z collaborative album, Watch the Throne. Ocean co-wrote and featured on two tracks: "No Church in the Wild" and "Made in America".
On July 28, 2011, a song titled "Thinkin About You", leaked on the internet. It was later revealed the song was a reference track, written by Ocean, for Roc Nation artist Bridget Kelly's debut studio album. Kelly renamed the song "Thinking About Forever". In September 2011, a music video directed by High5Collective for Ocean's version was released, yet the song still appeared on Kelly's debut EP Every Girl. In March 2012, a re-mastered version of "Thinkin About You" leaked, intended to be a single. Ocean released the cover art for his debut studio album's lead single, titled "Thinkin Bout You", revealing the song would be released to digital retailers on April 10.
On June 8, 2012, a single from the album Channel Orange, entitled "Pyramids", was made available for download on Ocean's Tumblr blog. On July 4, 2012, Ocean published an open letter on his Tumblr blog recounting unrequited feelings he had for another young man when he was 19 years old, citing it as his first true love. He used the blog to thank the man for his influence, and also thanked his mother and other friends. Members of the hip hop industry generally responded positively to the announcement. On July 10, 2012, Ocean made his debut television performance with "Bad Religion" on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (2009). The same day, Ocean released his album one week ahead of schedule for digital download on iTunes and free streaming on his Tumblr blog. All other forms of distribution for the album were available on July 17, 2012. On September 6, 2012, Frank Ocean performed an acoustic version of his Channel Orange single, "Thinkin Bout You", at the 2012 MTV Video Music Awards (2012) which was held at the Staples Center arena at L.A. Live in Downtown Los Angeles. _2014 Frank Ocean Co-produced and wrote "Cinderella" a song for recording artist Damienn Jones.
