Sat 7 Jul 2012
Revisiting Frank Ocean’s “Forrest Gump” Coachella Debut: “Running ‘Round My Mind, Boy”
Posted by Miss Info under about miss info , good for hip hop , good for humanity , life beyond rap , new music , relationships and family , things I love , videos[34] Comments
Frank Ocean’s stunning and moving letter about falling in love with a male friend at 19 has everyone analyzing what this means for hip hop culture (yes, Frank Ocean is hip hop. He’s part of OFWGKTA).
We’re analyzing what this means for his career (despite what country singer Chely Wright says, I don’t think it hurts his sales any more than refusing to do any album promotion has).
We’re analyzing whether Frank Ocean is gay or bisexual.
And of course, we’re listening to Frank’s music and discussing nuances (real or imagined) that hint at the feelings he shared in that letter.
But I mentioned in my post that I was hearing from insiders about a lyric on Frank’s upcoming album Channel Orange that said “…running ’round my head, boy.”
So thankfully, the homie Nation has the sharp-ears. He pointed out that Frank actually performed that lyric, and that new song, “Forrest Gump” at Coachella in April.
So fascinating how the whole crowd, myself included, watched Frank onstage maybe thought he was speaking in a 3rd person narrative, maybe from the perspective from Forrest’s love Jenny?
“My fingertips and my lips, they burn from the cigarettes, Forrest Gump. You run my mind, boy. Running ’round my mind, boy. Forrest Gump. I remember you. This is love, know it’s true. I won’t forget you.”
Watch Frank Ocean perform “Forrest Gump”…
After the jump
Still really like this song, no matter who he’s singing about. I’ve been getting lots of tweets about men who feel conflicted about songs like “Thinking About You,” etc. I guess it doesn’t bother me because I have accepted that none of these great love songs, or offensive sexist songs, or hardcore lifestyle songs are about me, or for me, or to me. Lol.
Related:
MissInfo: Frank Ocean Confirms Bisexuality With a Heartfelt Letter
Complex: What Does Frank Ocean Coming Out Mean For Him And For Black Music?
The Well-Versed: Frank Ocean Is Not Singing Songs, Just To Sing The Songs
New York Times: Creating His Own Gravity
July 4th, 2012 at 2:37 pm
peep the conviction he sang with when he did the lauryn hill cover of “tell him”
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Banko0o0o Reply:
July 4th, 2012 at 5:44 pm
lol you got jokes!!
I think Frank is a game changer!! He’s about to make songs about dudes for woman and have chicks GOING CRAZY!! They gone connect with his art like no other R&B EVER!!
On a very very real note LIKE IT OR NOT that Downlow switch hitter life style is the number one cause of the spread of HIV and AIDS in the black community SO I HOPE HE BECOMES OUTSPOKEN ABOUT THE NEED FOR SAFE SEX IN THAT LIFESTYLE BECAUSE THATS WHERE ITS NEEDED!!
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jwilliams Reply:
July 5th, 2012 at 10:27 am
I don’t buy that. I buy the prison man theory more than an open or not open gay man infecting black women. I think that’s the down low, gay boogeyman, perpetuated by Oprah.
It’s the prison dudes. They do 4 or 5 years or more, have sex with men inside, get out and live a double life, or live on the down low, as you put it.
I also buy the NC theory, that was on 20/20 or some show, about the ratio of black women to black men being so small in that state that it disincentivizes monogamy. the black men have so many options in NC due to the prison statistics that every one man can have multiple women; and women are actively seeking men who are spoken for due to the lack of men.
Let’s be real, many black women are also actively trying to get pregnant in order to get state assistance, so it seems like they’d be less likely to use contraception than someone in a healthy sexual relationship. And many of the guys just want to get laid, so they could care less about HIV. Also, many of them believe that Magic Johnson is indeed cured of the disease. I know, because a male family member of mine actually believes this, and he is your typical dumbass black male stereotype. “Yo, Magic is cured”. “He don’t got that shit no more.”
…
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Banko0o0o Reply:
July 5th, 2012 at 2:30 pm
“Let’s be real, many black women are also actively trying to get pregnant in order to get state assistance”
YIKES!!! Not touching that shit!
July 4th, 2012 at 2:52 pm
Ever since I heard ” I don’t believe marriage is between a man and woman, but between love and love” on We All Try, i’ve been questioning Frank’s sexuality, but then, like you, I’m like man listen, i’m not on Frank’s radar in that dept. and neither is he on mine, so I will continue to enjoy these songs, and accept them for what they are – just songs.
And when I heard Forrest Gump, I too thought he was singing from Jenny’s perspective, and when the news broke, I was still defending that idea, up until the letter. Either way, do you Frank, do you!
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July 4th, 2012 at 3:44 pm
I commend anyone for being honest about who or what they are. However my personal view that only a man & a woman can correctly be intimate. Its not physically possible for two men or two women to create a life. Thats just a physical fact.
For me its hard to ignore the obvious, I won’t buy the music but to each their own.
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Josh Reply:
September 8th, 2012 at 9:59 pm
So a woman or man who is heterosexual but infertile can’t be intimate?
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Sledgehammer Reply:
September 9th, 2012 at 9:59 am
Read the comment again… Where do you surmise that in my statement I include people who may infertile?
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heshewhoever Reply:
September 9th, 2012 at 7:00 pm
well you say that only man and woman should be intimate for CHILDREN that’s the reason same sexes shouldn’t have kids that’s what is being suggested. an infertitle couple can’t have children should they stop being intimate? that’s what i think Josh meant and he has a point
July 4th, 2012 at 4:17 pm
This is info at her best. She takes the extra step in dissecting hip hop events. Frank music is good either way, his sexuality preferences doesn’t mean anything to me, but realistically he will lose some of his fans on a main stream level. his die hard fans will take this as a evolutionary step in his own identity. Its not like he started with a lady gaga image where his sexuality preferences were always there. It will be interesting to see what happens though. Not everyone has a worldly view, even with music.
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July 4th, 2012 at 5:39 pm
On the song “Oldie” off the Odd Future album he says “im high and im bi, no wait im straight.” it def was a sus line but i aint really think anything of it.
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Banko0o0o Reply:
July 4th, 2012 at 9:08 pm
You’d have to know that someone in that group would have an Odd Future ahead of them…
This s a brilliant business move, write love songs about dudes FOR CHICKS?!? Shit he will move units, sell out concerts and be a factor for years to come..
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July 4th, 2012 at 7:54 pm
When I hear him say “I do t think marraige is between man and woman I think it’s between love and love.” I thought that in itself was a big statement for the young black artist but I didn’t question his sexuality nor do I care. Now I see the statement is more personal. Now I’m looking forward to see how things will change. Who will be the first mainstream rapper to put him their album. If a rapper comes out it would have to be like frank did it, after people listen to ur music and ur on the rise.
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July 4th, 2012 at 9:16 pm
Miss Info please get Cam’ron’s response to this guy coming out. I bet that would be really entertaining!
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you know you know Reply:
July 8th, 2012 at 5:31 am
lmfaoooo word!!! see him dance around the answer
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July 4th, 2012 at 11:11 pm
I am a listener. My only right judge is with regard to him as a musician. His sexual orientation is not my business and it is not my right to assess it one way or another. His music is amazing regardless of who he is singing about. There were things I’ve liked from Clay Aken, Elton John and George Michael that I appreciate musically.
I mean seriously, you think all these women singing these love songs are singing about women?
Just because someone is a celebrity doesn’t give me the right to judge the private aspects of their life because they are a public figure. EVERYONE has the right to have some privacy and be whomever they are. That’s my perspective. I just take the music and decide if I like it and leave it at that.
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July 5th, 2012 at 3:13 am
Is this really that important? Regardless of if he likes men or women or both, is he not going to make the same well produced music? I think its embarrassing for anyone to even put this much light on the subject when he has put himself out there where others have not before, I think we should praise him for his honesty rather than chastise him for it.
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July 5th, 2012 at 10:52 am
I fail to see how admitting to an immoral lifestyle is admirable.
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*sneeze*i'm allergic to bullsh- Reply:
September 9th, 2012 at 7:03 pm
immoral? has he killed anyone? does he hate a group of people the only thing he has admitted is that he loved
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July 5th, 2012 at 5:33 pm
I for one was shocked! As much as I adore Ocean’s music, I guess I wasn’t listening as closely to his lyrics as I would have liked.
I really wonder – was Def Jam OK with this???
I appreciate Ocean’s courage, truthfulness and openness with his fans. I will see him in concert at this month’s end.
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July 5th, 2012 at 5:39 pm
okay, it will take me a while to adjust to him addressing a man, but i still love it he’s got such a soulful voice!
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July 5th, 2012 at 11:12 pm
I cant. I just cant. I cant listen to a man sing about another man. I absolutely have no problem with gay men or women but I just wasnt ready for this. I would like him to sing just love songs not specifying a gender… But who am I! Congrats Frank you still have my support. Im going to need some time to take it all in (No Homo Tho’)
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July 6th, 2012 at 4:17 pm
I know everybody’s getting on that We All Try lyric bout marriage but the only thought I had when I 1st heard it was how profound & progressive it was. Never even considered he might have been talking about himself. Still don’t care. Just like the majority of your parents still don’t care about Freddie Jackson or Luther or even Sylvester. Frank is still ill. Period!
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July 6th, 2012 at 8:15 pm
Based on what he said in his letter, I just realized how much “Thinking About You” was about a dude. He does say “boy I’m lyin when I’m…” and then when he says “ya know you were my first time…”.
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July 8th, 2012 at 5:25 am
whoa whoa whoa @miss info… he’s hip hop because he is with OFWGKTA? So Omarion is hip hop because he is with MMG? Also what about Tony Sunshine when he was with Terror Squad, or Ashanti with Murder ink or Olivia with G Unit.. And if you use the fact that he raps as a little defense, does that mean Chris Brown is hip hop? Justin Beiber? Trey Songz? Shoot freaking Justin Timberlake?!
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July 8th, 2012 at 10:23 pm
First Off Frank Ocean is an Rhythm & Blues Singer That is the Genre he belongs to even if he’s in HipHop Group, so Miss Info need to get Off the niggas Dick, in that Genre sexual orientation, emotions, love, all the connotations associated with it, it creates an almost perfect atmosphere for questionable sexual orientation & it’s a far more a swallowable pill to digest to the Average R&B fanatic, its not like he’s a hardcore rapper in the Rap Genre saying he’s gay, where the atmosphere absolutely doesnt favor questionable sexual orientation more so, to the point if it is questionable or u don’t declare urself heterosexual, it cyanides ur career, & missinfo ur not exactly the Hiphop ambassador to be making that judgment call especially with ur Asian heritage I’m just saying, this is clearly to hype his sales, with an album on July 17 & there for his profit & it’s takes away from the nobility of his declaration no? He could of address the rumors on July 18th, I don’t support is music because homosexuality is not supported biologically, gay people don’t have different DNA or gonads, homosexuality is a socially harbored trait u choose to be gay & until that changes it will always be viewed as immoral & the world will never be ready for a guy singing bout another guy, that demographic is minute relatively… The day I check my yahoo account & see the worlds first gay biologically gay person was born then we welcome them as a race & with open arms!! It’s the same reason why most people think beastiality is wrong, but people had those organs to consummate shit I’d welcome them too, the shit is not natural no matter how much society tries to make it
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bullets Reply:
July 9th, 2012 at 12:11 pm
Thankyou sir well said…
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Red Reply:
February 11th, 2013 at 4:32 am
Just stupid.
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El Reply:
September 26th, 2012 at 11:48 am
RealShit and bullets- Both of your comments are vile, why should what other people do with someone they love (or even if they’re not in love for that matter)if its consensual, be of any importance to you, it does not affect you in any way whether a person is gay or not and your opinion is some of the most ignorant sh*t I have ever read. And comparing it to bestiality- are you serious??! An animal has no choice in that. Two people together do. I feel sad for you that you judge and can’t accept people for who they are and spend your time writing and being angry about this instead of living your life, you’re pathetic.
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Red Reply:
February 11th, 2013 at 4:26 am
You are so wrong in so many ways. How about just worry about yourself.
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July 9th, 2012 at 12:07 pm
Why are people going out of there way to make sure its known Frank Ocean is a Hiphop artist? He’s an R&B artist!! Anyway it just disgusts me how society is going out of its way to push this homosexual bs on people its in every commercial and movie even fucking netflix has a gay section smh..There have always been homosexuals in music but I never listened to Luther Vandross or Elton John and had to picture them talking about men smh.. Whats really scary is the direction the music will go after this dude knocks the door down for homo’s next its a gay rapper then so on and so forth and just like everything else in music a new trend will begin of labels looking for the most hedonistic shit they can find we’ll be listening and watching people fuck goats in a couple a years …
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July 13th, 2012 at 5:01 am
bullets you sound like an ignorant motherfucker, black folks should appreciate more than most how oppression works, imagine being gay and black? I just couldnt even fathom that double edged oppression happening to me but there you are making stupid statements about how the entire direction of society is turning homosexual (it isnt) and you probably complain about racists, spare a thought for the folks who have to cop it from both black haters and gay haters, theres just too much damn hatred around these days, hip hop cant stay homophobic forever, i really couldnt give a fuck what Cam’ron has to say on the matter, ask Krs One what he thinks, or Chuck D.
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October 27th, 2012 at 9:54 am
Could him being this confusing be what makes his album so intriguing and talented?? Look at howthe odd Michael JacksonJackson and Prince were. He has to figure out a way to write lyrics the non traditional way….we’re studying his lyrics now because we are now worried about something other than his music. Put it this way, I wish I wouldn’t have put itit on facebook how much I loved his album, esp Forrest Gump, cause a friend intently said ‘DUDE HE SINGING ABOUT A DUDE, LISTEN CLOSELY!!’ now I mad cause I consciously know its true. I don’t care but I want to listen freely to music without thinking of anything else. Just like when they started saying all Luther vandross’ music was to a guy. It’s human nature to just think differently when the person may be gay and we DIDN’T know. Had he came out from the jump, his career may have took aa dfferent turn. But im listening to his shit no matter what. I just don’t like the homophobia from cats…like they’re warning me mot to listen cause a dick might jump through my earbuds.
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October 27th, 2012 at 9:55 am
Could him being this confusing be what makes his album so intriguing and talented?? Look at howthe odd Michael JacksonJackson and Prince were. He has to figure out a way to write lyrics the non traditional way….we’re studying his lyrics now because we are now worried about something other than his music. Put it this way, I wish I wouldn’t have put itit on facebook how much I loved his album, esp Forrest Gump, cause a friend intently said ‘DUDE HE SINGING ABOUT A DUDE, LISTEN CLOSELY!!’ now I mad cause I consciously know its true. I don’t care but I want to listen freely to music without thinking of anything else. Just like when they started saying all Luther vandross’ music was to a guy. It’s human nature to just think differently when the person may be gay and we DIDN’T know. Had he came out from the jump, his career may have took aa dfferent turn. But im listening to his shit no matter what. I just don’t like the homophobia from cats…like they’re warning me not to listen cause a dick might jump through my earbuds. Its just music son…not inmate butt jail.
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