Or is he?
It’s been almost a decade since Frank Ocean dropped a full-length release, but once again, fans are hopeful that the wait might finally be over.
Over the past week, a series of cryptic hints scattered across the digital and physical world have suggested that Frank might be up to something (again). Last Thursday (May 15), Instagram user @tedchildish posted that he had spotted someone putting up “Frank” posters around Tokyo. The posters included a QR code which links to an Instagram page under the name @franciswupperman.
Following this speculation, today (May 22), the @franciswupperman account uploaded their first post in which the name ‘frank’ appears against different coloured backgrounds across three different slides, with the font appearing to mirror that which appeared on the cover of iconic 2016 Frank Ocean release Blonde. The post included the caption: “FRANK a tale of three parts… begins next week.”
Still, many are unconvinced that this news is legitimately tied to Frank Ocean, with one Reddit user pointing out, “It literally just says ‘frank’ and some mf SOMEHOW connected it to Frank Ocean like he trademarked that name.”
This is not the first time that Ocean fans have been led to believe that new music is on the way. During his last Coachella performance in April 2023, the mysterious star announced that there was “not not a new album” on the horizon, followed by a short one-minute snippet of unreleased music shared to his Instagram story in November of that year. However, a new release has yet to materialise.
Regardless, fans can take solace from the fact that Ocean’s upcoming directorial debut, at least, seems to be on more stable ground. Following extensive rumours that Ocean would be directing a film starring Bones and All actor Taylor Russell, in January 2025 it was reported that British actor and Rye Lane star had been cast for the film’s lead role and that shooting had begun in Mexico City.
While the feature’s title, plot and remaining cast are still yet to be announced, it’s something, at least.