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.
CLIQUE: a small group of people, with shared interests or other features in common CULT: a misplaced or excessive admiration for a particular person or thing
STATUS: CULT Pretty clear here, that’s not a normal question to be asking. I feel even the apostles didn’t have people asking them what Jesus smelled like.
STATUS: CLIQUE Not too weird, just fans excited to see an artist they like on the street.
STATUS: CLIQUE Just a cool unique tattoo for a fan, nothing wrong with this.
STATUS: CULT Once you get his face it becomes way weirder. Something wrong with that.
STATUS: CULT How the fuck an originally free magazine is reselling for $200 is beyond me.
”My sister got her widsom teeth out and doesnt do well drugged. And she loves frank ocean.” I’m dead □□ pic.twitter.com/jGifq4fk75
STATUS: ON DRUGS SO INCONCLUSIVE But funny nonetheless
STATUS: CULT (and a little stalky) Some fans were able to find the location his visual album ENDLESS, just by seeing the inside of the warehouse. If Bin Laden had Frank with him he would have been found years earlier.
CONCLUSION: While there are plenty of more casual fans of Frank, he clearly has a cult like following amongst his strongest supporters. His reclusiveness only strengthens his cult following, as every word he speaks or action he takes carries more weight. In a world where everybody shares everything, nobody ever knows what the hell Frank is up to, which only adds mystery and fervor to know more about him.