Is Frank Ocean alive?
Seriously, at this point we might need to send a search party for him.
Ever since he announced via Tumblr in April that he would be releasing his sophomore LP in July to follow up his acclaimed Grammy-winning 2012 album “Channel Orange,” Ocean has gone off the grid, never to be heard from, musically at least, again.
Ocean was the start of an increasingly distressing trend from huge artists. Kanye West, Rihanna and Drake have all been teasing fans with albums that have yet to have even a single be released.
While West has finally announced via Twitter his long-awaited “Yeezus” follow up, “Swish,” to be released Feb. 11, Rihanna’s album, “Anti,” has yet to be finished, and Drake has been teasing “Views from the 6” for what feels like eons.
There are no release dates for “Anti” or “Views,” leaving dedicated fans to come up with their own release dates, only to have them pass and remain albumless.
Rihanna has paired with Samsung to tease ”Anti,” but all that has done is make fans wonder if this album even exists. Producer Glass John didn’t help ease fan anxiety after his now infamous Twitter rant claiming that Rihanna’s new boyfriend Travis Scott is the reason for the album’s delay.

John tweeted that “Anti” is done and has been done for a long time, but Scott is convincing her to delay it. Whether any of this is true or not, one thing is for sure — we still don’t have “Anti.”
These artists don’t necessarily owe people anything, but to keep fans thirsty for even a shrivel of information about their albums like this is depressing. We haven’t had a new album from Ocean since 2012, West and Drake since 2013. Rihanna gets more of a pass, as she has released an album every year for seven years until now.
While the argument that artists need time to create quality music is true, three years is a long time not to be releasing anything, specifically in Ocean’s case.
He’s left fans starving for new music and desperate for even a glimpse of him. They’ve turned to deciphering information like he’s part of “The Da Vinci Code” just to learn his whereabouts.
It is 2016, and not only has Ocean not released an album, he also hasn’t performed live. He cancelled a headlining performance at Los Angeles’ FYF Fest in August. In a press release fest organizers claimed Ocean “decided on his own terms to cancel his appearance.”
Frank Ocean is a liar and he’s out here playing with people’s feelings. It’s understandable to delay the album, but to announce it and let July come and go without so much as a tweet? That hurts, Frank.
Drake has at least gifted fans with two mixtapes, two diss tracks and a hit in “Hotline Bling” in 2015. West also sporadically releases tracks, and Rihanna gifts fans daily with her general flawlessness.
Where the quality over quantity argument will lose steam is in the finished products. After such long waits, these albums need to be stellar.
Of course, any of these albums could drop today and we’d all rejoice, forgetting the tortuous wait. These aren’t the first albums to be delayed and they certainly won’t be the last, but is it too much to ask for quality and punctuality?
Life is hard, and we need new Frank Ocean, Kanye West, Drake and Rihanna music to get through it. Hurry up, y’all.