inger-songwriter Frank Ocean revealed in a recent entry on his Tumblr blog that his first love was another man. Like news anchor Anderson Cooper, who did the same earlier this week, Ocean is ready to come out and publicly admit that is sexually attracted to other men.
Ocean is the first hip hop artist to do so.
The entry, which appears to be a photo of a screen captured after typing his narrative into a word processing program of sorts, explains how the relationship developed and how his new love made him feel.
“4 summers ago, I met somebody. I was 19. He was too. We spent that summer, and the summer after, together. Every-day almost. And on the days we were together, time would glide.”
He also blogged,
““By the time I realized I was in love, it was malignant. It was hopeless. There was no escaping, no negotiating with the feeling. No choice. It was my first love. It changed my life.”
Ocean also even expressed the relief he felt now that he had come out of the closet.
“I don’t have any secrets I need to keep any more. I feel like a free man. If I listen closely. I can hear the sky falling too.”
As a member of the West-Coast based hip hop collective OFWGKTA, aka Odd Future, it might have been harder for Ocean to come out than other recording artists. Anti-gay remarks are frequent in hip hop and rap music. Lil’ Wayne coined the phrase “no homo”, and Eminen was criticized for using homophobic slurs when he first broke into the business. He, however, was later schooled by Elton John which led to the unlikely duo performing together that same year at the Grammys.
Ocean is known by many as a rising star in hip-hop having been prominently featured on on Jay-Z and Kanye West’s Watch the Throne album. He seems be in good company there as those two have spoken out against the use of anti-gay slurs in hip hop lyrics.
Industry professionals say they aren’t sure how this announcement will affect record sales for Ocean’s upcoming album.
