Frank Ocean was born Christopher Edwin Breux, on October 28 1987 in Long Beach, California, and is an American singer, songwriter, and rapper. His early works are credited by some music critics for pioneering the alternative R&B genre. He adopted the stage name Frank Ocean, getting the name from Frank Sinatra and the 1960s film Ocean’s 11, which Sinatra starred in.
In 2005 he headed to LA with only $1000 dollars in his pocket to pursue his music career, working at various fast-food and service jobs to support himself. In less than three years, he established himself as a songwriter under the name Lonny Breaux. After getting some songwriting deals, he started writing songs for Justin Biber, Beyonce, and John legend.
In 2010 after meeting Tyler the creator and joining the Odd Future collective, Ocean began putting out music. In 2011 he released his debut mixtape Nostalgla. It sampled songs by MGMT and Radiohead. The album helped gain him a fan base and more of an audience who loved his music following this came his next album.
In 2012, Ocean released his debut studio album Channel Orange to universal acclaim from critics, who later named it the best album of the year in the HMV’s Poll of Polls. It also earned Ocean six Grammy Award nominations and was credited by some writers for moving the R&B genre in a different, more challenging direction. The album contained a blend of many styles including funk jazz and psychedelic styles which created a fresh take on R and B. The lyrics are very sentimental and are taken from his personal experiences on serious topics like romance and drugs. Through the press, he was able to be more open about his sexuality, paving a way for more artists to be greatly accepted and more diversity for artists.
His sound and style have had a great impact on many artists who say there is a huge influence on their music and day to day life. His albums have touched many people as well as being lyrical and have amazing melodies. He has had a major influence on the whole music industry no matter what genre rap, indie, R and B his music is immortal. Music critics have credited Ocean for pioneering alternative R&B, approaching R&B music differently to his contemporaries with an idiosyncratic style. He was included in the 2013 edition of the Time‘s list of the 100 most influential people in the world.
