FRANK OCEAN

Frank Ocean, born Christopher Edwin Breaux on October 28, 1987, is an American singer-songwriter and rapper. He has received two Grammy Awards and a Brit Award. Critics have credited him as a pioneer of the alternative R&B genre. Ocean began his musical career as a ghostwriter before joining the Los Angeles-based hip hop collective Odd Future in 2010. In 2009, he signed with RedZone Entertainment, an imprint of Def Jam Recordings, but his debut mixtape, Nostalgia, Ultra, was released independently in 2011. His debut studio album, Channel Orange, was released in 2012 and incorporated elements of R&B and soul music. The album was nominated for Album of the Year at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards and won Best Urban Contemporary Album; its lead single, "Thinkin Bout You," was nominated for Record of the Year. In 2013, Time named him one of the world's 100 most influential people. After a four-year hiatus, Ocean released the visual album Endless in 2016 to fulfill contractual obligations with Def Jam. His second studio album, Blonde, was released independently the following day.