Throughout history, many notable figures have stuck out through trying times and persevered, but there is one who stuck out to me the most: Frank Ocean, a 36-year-old singer, songwriter, and rapper who has gone through many losses in life. In 2011, his debut mixtape named Nostalgia, Ultra independently dropped, followed by his first album Channel Orange. Throughout the next year, Frank would receive many offers from many record labels, but decided to take an offer from Def Jam Records; however, his relationship with them wasn’t always smooth.

Within the next couple of years, Frank felt tired of working with Def Jam, feeling as if they didn’t support his artistic vision, and had many contractual issues with the label. Even though he had these restrictions and issues, Frank was forced to push out a certain number of songs and albums over a few years, or else he would owe them a major fine and be stuck under their label for an extended period.

He couldn’t support them; Frank decided that he couldn’t afford to face these fines and backlash so he planned to finish the contract, but make sure Def Jam made little to no money along the way. He mentioned his upcoming sophomore album, Boy’s Don’t Cry, on social media platforms, and over the next couple of years, fans grew waiting and expecting a normal studio album, but he had something different planned.

To make sure that Def Jam Records didn’t get a chunk of the music, he changed things up and didn’t drop that typical studio album; instead, decided that he would launch a different album as a live stream on his website, now known as Endless. This livestream was 45 minutes of Frank Ocean building a staircase with new songs playing in the background, and while it sounds a bit outlandish, it fulfilled his contractual obligations and he was free, but the songs on Endless were never seen again.

Just a day later, Frank Ocean dropped his true sophomore album, Blonde, independently and is arguably one of the most influential albums in R&B. This album was a statement, showing off all of the creative freedoms he didn’t have access to before. Blonde was critically acclaimed and universally successful, solidifying his place in the music industry. 

Today, nearly 8 years later, Frank Ocean is one of the top artists on streaming platforms, even if Blonde was his most recently released album. His strategic release of Endless is a pivotal point in his career, making his transition from being constrained by a major record label to becoming a major independent artist. Today, Frank is a symbol for modern R&B, collaborating with and inspiring other musicians, and will always be seen for his perseverance and strength in the music industry.