Frank Ocean has some of the most dedicated fans of any current artist, always desperately looking for any insight to the enigmatic artist. During his four-year silence between album releases, his fan base grew more rabid in finding out any information on the man or his upcoming album. His line on the song Chanel illustrates this when he says “This a cult, not a clique, on the net”. We’ll be examining this claim by looking at some of his fans posts, to see how habitually his fans cross the line between fandom and obsession.
Kanye West is one of the most polarizing figures in Western culture, vilified by the mass media and idolized by his loyal followers. You have fans calling him Yeezus praising his musical ability and fashion sense, while detractors will point to his PR nightmares and call him a self-absorbed dick (moms everywhere will never forget what he did to Taylor).
While the man himself is very controversial, what can’t be debated is the profound impact his albums have had on the landscape of not only hip-hop, but also music as a whole. We’ll be taking a look at three of his most influential albums (The College Dropout, Graduation, and 808s and Heartbreak) and examining how it not only went against the grain at the time, but also inspired other artists to follow in a similar lane.