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“‘I think every take is something amazing. I’m not trying to stop your workflow, but it sounds amazing,’” Reggie says. He was confused as he recorded Frank, unable to hear what the artist could. Reggie laughs as he reminisces about the sessions. His lyrics, melodies, pockets, and production always favor the off-kilter over the obvious-elements that made Frank’s songs far more interesting, if often impenetrable. Listening to Frank’s early music is like hearing an artist that exists on a different universal plane than his peers. What set Frank apart at this time was exactly the thing that made him radioactive to the major label system. And then Swift called me one day, he was like ‘Yo man, you got to hear this shit that Lonny’s doing, this shit is insane.’ And then it’s like what? Four years? It was like four years of just writing.” “And then Frank was like ‘Yo, is it cool if I just come to the studio and just work on my own?’ And we were like ‘Yeah.’ And that time I wasn’t even in the studio a lot, he used to work more with Swift at that time. “We were kind of one of the people that you go to to go work with,” Waynne says. He worked at Subway and Fatburger before meeting the production team that would change his life, Midi Mafia, who were working with a slew of songwriters on tracks for Jennifer Lopez and Justin Bieber. After Hurricane Katrina decimated his hometown of New Orleans, he spent a semester in college and a few months sheetrocking then moved to L.A. Throughout the making of Nostalgia, Ultra, Frank began to exercise what it means for a young, Black artist to fully take hold of their destiny.īefore Frank Ocean was a crystallized idea, he was toiling on the singer-songwriter circuit. But its themes resonated most: Nostalgia, Ultra is about control and the power of sentimentality. In short, the mixtape was everything a major label R&B album couldn’t be. Frank’s vocal performance was far from virtuosic, but his imperfect voice only highlighted his lyrical strengths. Its original compositions were so fully formed that Beyoncé and Kanye West would eventually come calling. It featured Frank singing over classic and indie rock instrumentals instead of R&B standards.

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On February 16, 2011, Frank Ocean released Nostalgia, Ultra as a free mixtape to an unexpecting world. … When it came out, it was like, ‘What? Who’s Frank Ocean?’ And sure enough, I reached out and like, ‘Changed my name.’” “We finished the album and then the album didn’t come out for another few more months. “I had no clue about the name Frank Ocean throughout the entire process until after the album dropped,” Reggie says. Then he disappeared and reemerged months later with a new name and operating philosophy. When Lonny wasn’t writing songs to get placed with stars or singing reference tracks over Midi Mafia beats, he was tinkering with what at the time must’ve seemed like a genreless blob. He and Reggie were asteroids in the orbit of Bruce Waynne and Dirty Swift-the production duo Midi Mafia, who landed a massive hit with 50 Cent’s 2003 song “21 Questions.” While Midi Mafia were off building their R&B and pop empire, Reggie and Lonny were in a studio chipping away at a disparate group of songs. In 2009, Lonny Breaux was a songwriter with placements for Justin Bieber, John Legend, and Brandy.