Last April, Frank Ocean posted a photo of himself to his Tumblr page to tease an album and a magazine, both of which the entire Internet assumed to be titled Boys Don't Cry. Both were due out that July. July 2015, that was the deal.
It is now July 275th, and we're still waiting for Boys To Not Cry. We've heard little tidbits here and there about how Frank is working harder than ever before and how the finished product might sound which is all good and whatever, but the fact of the matter is that we still don't have the album. And while the sharp despondency has been downgraded to a dull ache, stuff like this still hurts.
A lot.
Frank Ocean Gloriously Returns w/ "Dusted Wings" f. @SadeOfficial https://t.co/IQQGeAw2HE pic.twitter.com/6nSdO9X7Yn
— Okayplayer.com (@okayplayer) April 1, 2016
What hurts most is that this prank has worked on me twice now. The exact same one. Two times. A year apart. That's at least three different kinds of depressing.
It's just that there's just enough truth to it, you know? Frank did cover "By Your Side" once, Sade lives in England, he spends a lot of time there (I think), they both make smash-your-fragile-heart-into-tiny-vulnerable-pieces R&B, "Dusted Wings" reads pretty Frank Ocean-y; it makes sense.
Then you click through and BAM! Rick Roll'd. Again.
If you need me, I'll be listening to Frank bare his soul to a cabbie while I think about all of the many people I've met and how they've proceeded to disappoint me.
