Frank Ocean surprised the heck out of fans when he came out of social media hiding and made his Instagram public in mid-November 2018. With a GQ cover story for the February 2019 issue, he continues to extend the branch to his fans with an interview that’s as open as any he’s done.
Ocean was interviewed by Vegyn and Emmett Cruddas, who co-host “Blonded Radio,” his semi-regular Apple Music show. Now living in downtown Manhattan, Ocean said he enjoys the City because there’s less driving but also because of the energy. He explains, “I enjoy the energy working project to project in New York that I can get from looking out my window or going downstairs: It’s the people, their pace, the unsaid energy.”
As to why in mid-November 2018 he made his Instagram public, he says it was mainly to better communicate with the public. He says, “I feel like there was dissonance between how I was seen by the audience and where I was actually, so that contributed to the decision to make my Instagram public, for sure. But there’s also the idea of dialogue and discourse and conversation, like theater where the audience can interrupt you versus the television.”
Ocean also let his hypebeast flag fly with shout outs for SCOTTeVEST vests, a wish for long sold-out Balenciaga python-leather pants and a hope that Marithé + François Girbaud might return to favor.
Taking a page from his mother, Katonya Breaux, who created a sunscreen for black skin, Ocean takes good care of his skin by wearing a night cream that includes retinol. He says, “I really do believe in a night cream. I feel like men just go to sleep. They may wash their face or they don’t even bother. They go to sleep with the day face on. You really need to do a gentle wash and put a night moisturizer on. You can’t have the retinol in your creams in the day because it makes you more sun sensitive, so you wanna throw that on at night. I need the night cream because when I wake up I feel very beautiful, moisturized and ready to have people making eye contact with me, ready to look above my eyebrow, below the eyebrow.”
Referencing Pharrell’s claim that his good skin is a result of constant exfoliation, Ocean says, “He just says ‘exfoliate,’ but it’s not just exfoliate. We need more keys.”
On cover and in image above, Ocean is wearing a floral Prada turtleneck (similar style here).
