Who is Frank Ocean? Five Facts to Know about the R&B Singer

He’s Written Songs for Justin Bieber, John Legend, and Beyonce Before making a name for himself, Ocean was a ghost writer for the likes of Justin Bieber, John Legend, and Brandy. But he finally got to put his name on something when he worked with Beyonce on her 2011 album 4 when he co-wrote her song “I Miss You.” In July 2011, she told Complex magazine, “Jay[-Z] had a CD playing in the car one Sunday when we were driving to Brooklyn. I noticed [Ocean’s] tone, his arrangements, and his storytelling. I immediately reached out to him — literally the next morning. I asked him to fly to New York and work on my record.”

Jay-Z and Kanye West Are Big Fans In addition to working with Beyonce, Ocean also spent time in the studio cooking up songs with her husband and Kanye West when the two rap superstars were recording their side project, Watch the Throne. After West heard Ocean’s 2011 mix tape Nostalgia, Ultra he invited him to write and sing on two songs on the album “No Church in the Wild” — which Rolling Stone named as the sixth best song of 2011 — and “Made in America.”

He’s Not Related to Billy Ocean Being a singer with the last name Ocean begs the question — and he loves to joke about it. “Billy Ocean is my uncle … I’m just f–king with you,” he told Complex last year about the “Caribbean Queen” crooner. Born Christopher “Lonny” Breaux, Ocean decided to change his name on his 22nd birthday in 2010. “I went on LegalZoom and changed my f–king name. It just felt cool. None of us are our names. If you don’t like your name then change your name.” At the time of the interview, his name change was still getting processed, but he added that soon “I’ll be boarding planes as Christopher Francis Ocean.”

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