Photography Tyrone LebonMusic / NewsFrank Ocean opens up about his writing processIn a rare video appearance, the enigmatic R&B star gives us an insight into his creative mindsetShareLink copied ✔️July 6, 2016MusicNewsTextTed StansfieldCalvin Klein AW16 campaign R&B vocalist Frank Ocean is the star of Calvin Klein’s AW16 campaign. Shot by British photographer Tyrone Lebon, the singer, songwriter and rapper features in the ad alongside a cross-generational roster of talents that includes the likes of supermodel Kate Moss, Vogue creative director Grace Coddington and Atlanta rapper Young Thug. Alongside the print campaign, the brand has premiered a series of short films featuring these campaign stars. In Ocean’s video, which is stylish and lo-fi, the enigmatic musician (who seldom gives interviews) opens up about the role music plays in his life, and how he goes about writing it. “If you start to have it and you keep it up for four or five weeks and then you stop, you feel like you’re missing something in your day – that’s what music is for me,” he says. “It feels like a necessary act.” “You just romanticise something that’s in the past, which is fantasy because it’s not exactly how it went down,” he continues, giving us an insight into his music writing process. “Fantasy plays the role of the supplement. I draw on fantasy to make things hyperreal, I guess, to saturate the colours.” Ocean’s Calvin Klein campaign comes amid rumours that the singer’s long-awaited new album Boys Don’t Cry finally has a release date. Last Friday, his website was updated with a library card bearing lots of stamps for past release dates and two future dates: July 2016 and November 2016. Whether he’ll actually drop his album on either of these dates, time will tell. Escape the algorithm! Get The DropEmail address SIGN UP Get must-see stories direct to your inbox every weekday. Privacy policy Thank you. You have been subscribed Privacy policy Expand your creative community and connect with 15,000 creatives from around the world.READ MORE5 of the best Oklou collabs, ranked‘Alt girls get their flowers’: Oklou and PinkPantheress go head-to-headGucci AW26: Everything you missed at Demna’s blockbuster runway debutWatch: fakemink on lust, obsessive fans and his new album, Terrifiedfakemink: ‘I’m the Eminem of the UK underground’Pokémon, pigeons and a car crash: Tracing fakemink’s digital footprint GucciEsDeeKid, Fakemink and more shut down Gucci’s AW26 afterparty5 acts to know from Manchester’s musical undergroundThe 7 most bleak, hopeless and depressing Mitski songs – ranked!February 2026 playlist: All the music we loved from the last monthMagdalena Bay on romance, fate and the best advice they ever receivedEvery Gorillaz album, rankedEscape the algorithm! Get The DropEmail address SIGN UP Get must-see stories direct to your inbox every weekday. Privacy policy Thank you. You have been subscribed Privacy policy