The press shy Frank Ocean granted Hot 97 host Angie Martinez an exclusive interview on his home turf of Los Angeles. The Odd Future singer-songwriter, who carries a medical marijuana card, spoke about his notorious crew including ringleader Tyler, the Creator, battling nerves while working with Jay-Z on Watch the Throne, and when his album will drop. Listen to what the man of mystery had to say.
• On Odd Future: “That’s family. It’s a crew, but it’s not like a boy band where we’re like this cohesive thing that moves and does everything together. We’re like a crew of a bunch of different artists who create their own thing and their own wave.”
• On Tyler, the Creator’s antics: “I definitely won’t go on the record and say that I latch on to every beef or confrontation or scuffle that Tyler gets into, maybe in the streets, but not in the matrix or the Internet. I can’t keep up with that. The commentary, all of this bullshit is just…”
• On joining Jay-Z and Kanye West on the “Watch the Throne” tour: “I’d love to. I think that’s all I’m gonna say about that.”
• On working on Throne: “I rarely do collabs, so that’s just one of the ones you absolutely do. It’s like a no-brainer. I didn’t really think about any of it. The last thing on my mind was working with artists who I’ve held in high esteem for years.”
• On recording with Jay-Z: “The first seven minutes or so of working with Jay was—I won’t even say it was seven minutes—but it’s like the initial walk-in, sit down, put your bag down, and he wasn’t saying anything, and I was nervous, as soon as we started talking [it was fine]. He’s super cool. I think he was just tryna make me nervous, make me sweat. It seemed a little intentional.”
• On when he first met Kanye West: “I worked with Jay on his solo album before I did the Watch the Throne sessions. The second time I went it was Barry Weiss, Jay, Beyoncé, Kanye, couple other people, it was a pretty heavy room.”
• On when his album is dropping: “I have no idea. I just want to make sure the next thing is right and I don’t want to go on the record and say that it’s coming out on some phantom date that never appears.”
Listen to the full interview below.
Part 1
Part 2Part 3