The first of the two new albums, Endless, was released in a mysterious fashion. The promotion of both albums had a common element: minimalism. Then, the next day, Ocean’s proper follow-up to Channel Orange arrived. It had been only slightly promoted on his website and on an Apple Music stream. Suddenly, an album called Endless arrived in video form. There were no promotions, no interviews and no teaser tracks. In those four years, only silence surrounded the elusive singer. It took four years for Frank Ocean’s Blonde to arrive after releasing his debut album. Although there has been no mention that UMG has any plans to take legal action, it is entirely possible that they will sue Frank over the ordeal.Frank Ocean can seem invisible, but his influence is undeniable Given the short turnaround between the two albums, it’s questionable whether UMG had any knowledge of Frank’s decision to release Blonde, and therefore may have grounds to sue. When he released Blonde, he had already effectively severed ties with UMG.Īlthough Frank’s actions with last week’s releases may not have been strictly illicit, they are certainly unorthodox and controversial. Potentially in reaction to Frank’s surprise independent release, UMG chairman/CEO Lucian Grainge banned any future streaming-exclusive deals by their artists.īillboard reports that Ocean may have repaid Def Jam for the nearly $2 million the record label put into the production of his two albums, essentially buying his own music back. The label had anticipated Frank’s second album release with as much eagerness as the rest of us, but when Frank unexpectedly released Blonde through his own label, UMG lost a massive amount of profit potential from one of their most successful artists. And that is a statistic that has left Universal executives feeling irritated and shortchanged. Theoretically, Endless fulfills Frank’s contractual obligation to UMG, but Blonde, the real main attraction, is projected to surpass the visual album by nearly 250,000 streams.

However, the visual album was released through Def Jam/Universal Music Group (UMG), while the proper follow-up to Frank’s 2012 album Channel Orange was released on his own record label, Boys Don’t Cry.įrank’s decision to release the albums in such a way has put him in hot water with UMG. Both albums were made available exclusively through Apple Music. Immediately preceding the release of his long-anticipated sophomore LP, Blonde, he released a visual album titled Endless. It’s been a big week for Frank Ocean fans.

Two frank ocean albums