You know Summer is fast approaching when festival announcements are everywhere you look.

YMCMB member Drake has unveiled plans for the 4th annual OVO Fest in his hometown of Toronto. On August 4th, Frank Ocean and James Blake will be performing. On August 5th, Drake will hit the stage along with various special guests. In years past these “guests” have included the likes of Stevie Wonder, so you know it’s going to be b-i-g.

OVO Fest will be held at Molson Canadian Amphitheater. Tickets go on sale May 21.

Drake’s new album, Nothing Was The Same, is scheduled for release later this year.

The world is still recovering from the premiere of Tyler, The Creator‘s “Domo 23” music video last week, and already the young rapper has unleashed a second set of unique visuals to get fans excited for his forthcoming Sophomore release.

Teased at the end of “Domo 23,” “Bimmer” is a track that leans heavily on chillwave sounds to create a relaxed track that can be likened to a mix between “White” (off OF Tape Vol. 2) and “She” (off Tyler’s debut, Goblin). The visuals feature Tyler and a girl who could double for an American Apparel model living up their young love under California sunshine. Click below to enjoy the video. Continue reading ‘Tyler, The Creator Releases “Bimmer” Video Featuring Frank Ocean’

The internet was buzzing yesterday with talk of an altercation between Chris Brown and Frank Ocean at a Los Angeles area recording studio. Apparently, the two vocalists and their friends got into a scuffle over a parking space that eventually lead to punches being thrown. Now that statements have been taken from the majority of people (Chris Brown fled the scene and did not speak with police right away), it seems most signs point to Chris Brown having actually started the incident.

According to TMZ, the accounts being given to police claim that Brown threw the first punch after Ocean refused to shake his hand. This lead to the eventual scuffle between groups, but police say neither singer was involved in the larger incident.

Given the nature of the attack, Ocean may be pressing charges against Brown, which could create a very interesting situation given Brown’s current probation. Reuters quotes Los Angeles County Sheriff’s spokesman Steve Whitmore as saying that Ocean “is desirous of prosecution in this incident,” so it seems such action is imminent.

Chris Brown still has yet to publicly comment on the altercation, but he did post a painting of Jesus Christ on the cross to his Instagram yesterday with the message “Painting the way I feel today. Focus on what matters!” Continue reading ‘Frank Ocean May Press Charges Against Chris Brown; More Fight Details Emerge’

Well, this was unexpected.

TMZ is reporting that Chris Brown and Frank Ocean were involved in a fight at a Los Angeles recording studio last night following a dispute over parking. Apparently, Brown was at the studio working with an artist he recently signed, when Ocean rolled through and complained to Brown that he was parked in the wrong place. What followed exactly is unclear, but according to tweets from Frank Ocean (seen below) it seems Chris and his security jumped Ocean, with Brown landing at least one punch on the “Pyramids” vocalist. This is contrary to other reports, which claim Frank’s guards were the first to start the fight. Police were called to the scene, but Brown left before they could arrive. Ocean stayed to answer questions, and as a result is currently being considered the victim in the situation.

Police are still hoping to speak with Brown about the altercation, but as of 8AM (EST) he had yet to step forward and cooperate. Stay tuned for further developments. Continue reading ‘Chris Brown And Frank Ocean Fight At Los Angeles Recording Studio’

For Frank Ocean fans across the world, Dec. 23 marked an early Christmas as Ocean posted a previously unreleased track via Tumblr called, “Wise Man.” The track, which was originally meant for the soundtrack of Django Unchained, has received praise from director Quentin Tarantino himself. Speaking about the song, Tarantino said:

“Frank Ocean wrote a fantastic ballad that was truly lovely and poetic in every way, there just wasn’t a scene for it. I could have thrown it in quickly just to have it, but that’s not why he wrote it and not his intention. So I didn’t want to cheapen his effort. But, the song is fantastic, and when Frank decides to unleash it on the public, they’ll realize it then.”

You can listen to the track for yourself right here.

If you like Frank Ocean check out OurStage artist Anthony King.

More like this:

• Frank Ocean’s Bisexual Reveal And Reactions From The Hip-Hop World
• Hip Hop Gets Real: Frank Ocean Comes Out

The Good

Madonna defends incarcerated Russian band

Madonna may not have been winning many fans lately (see: hydrangeas, Lady Gaga, Elton John, and Marine Le Pen) but this week she redeemed herself by speaking out against the arrest of Russian punk trio Pussy Riot. The group has been incarcerated since March for performing a “punk prayer” in Moscow’s Christ the Savior Cathedral in protest of Vladimir Putin on the eve of his re-election. Hear Madonna’s speech below.

Introducing Frank + Derol

Frank + Derol are a new Los Angeles pop duo made up of singer/keyboardist Cody Caraco and singer/guitarist Brandi Cyrus, a.k.a. sis of Miley. You can get to know them by watching the video below, or by checking out their excellent new track, “Barely Love You Too” right here. Continue reading ‘Discourse & Dischord’

Frank Ocean has been all over the news lately for reasons you’re certainly already aware of and are tired of hearing about. But there’s one more wrinkle to the story of Ocean and his debut album Channel Orange. We previously covered the surprise iTunes exclusive release of Channel Orange and subsequent retail aftermath. However, Target might not be the only retailer miffed at iTunes swooping in and netting some early sales on a much-hyped release.

Continue reading ‘Amazon, iTunes, and Target: Exclusive Album Releases And What They Mean For Music Sales’

One week after his groundbreaking admission that he is gay, Frank Ocean is making headlines for a different reason. HDD predicts he’ll move more than 125,000 copies of his Def Jam debut in its first week out based on digital album sales alone.  Thealbum, Channel Orange hits stores (sans Target) today.

Jermaine Dupri posted an open letter on his website last week,  “When I saw the # that Frank Ocean is suppose to hit next week, I got extremely Happy, I said I need to get in my car and and listen to this album, by the time I got to “Sweet Life” I was even more happy, finally!! a RnB album that’s hip, without having the same 5 rappers on every song… I actually hope he hits 200k, for the sake of RnB, it’s in the worst position it’s ever been since I started making music, The Record company’s don’t believe in it, Radio won’t play it if it don’t have a rapper, and a majority of the artist that are labeled RnB, are confused and lost, so I repeat, I hope Ocean sells more than the 125k that he’s on pace for, maybe these executives u’ll wake the fuck up, or at least try to copy what he’s doing, like they always do, by the way, the end of “Pyramids” jammin like a mufucka.”

Continue reading ‘Frank Ocean Drops Def Jam Debut’

• Who in their right mind would ever pull the plug on this show?!
• Showing Idol some R.E.S.P.E.C.T.
• Maybe Mandy’s music will now actually be listenable.
• Bet it’s all that falsetto.
• Aw, 50 is growing up. Kind of.
• Someone else stole that money from you: Ticketmaster.

Frank Ocean has been having a hell of a week. First, he came out online to nearly universal support, ranging from positive tweets and blog comments to a poem from the desk of one Beyoncé Knowles. Music critics have also been pretty enamored with Ocean’s debut album Channel Orange, heaping mounds of acclaim all over the thing. The projected sales of the record don’t look too bad either. However, Target had to come in and be a total buzzkill to all the positive vibes coming towards Ocean’s way.

The big box retailer announced that they would not be carrying Ocean’s album. News of Target’s decision was revealed by way of tweets from Odd Future (and Ocean’s) manager Christian Clancy. Clancy initially tweeted that, “Target has refused to carry Frank’s album because of iTunes exclusive,” referencing the surprise availability of Channel Orange through the online music store a week before the album’s physical release. Clancy then alluded to the possibility that Ocean’s recent self-outing may have also influenced the company’s decision in a follow up tweet, “Interesting since they also donate to non-equal rights organizations.”

Target then fired back at allegations of bias against Ocean. In a statement to Billboard.biz, Target stated that, “the claims made about Target’s decision to not carry the Frank Ocean album are absolutely false. Target supports inclusivity and diversity in every aspect of our business. Our assortment decisions are based on a number of factors, including guest demand.” Clancy would later delete his accusatory tweets, saying the posts were, “knee jerk reacting.” In unrelated news, Christian Clancy is the most grateful person alive, according to his Twitter feed. Then again, with the kind of time that he must be having with Ocean and the rest of the OF crew, he has no reason not to be.

Listen to a stream of Channel Orange here.