Frank Ocean came out for his sanity and happiness, he says

By Matt Donnelly

July 20, 2012 12 AM PT

After weeks of analysis, praise and some backlash, singer Frank Ocean is opening up about his decision to reveal a past romance with another man.

Ocean took to his Tumblr blog July 3 to give, in straightforward detail, an account of his same-sex relationship, and the subsequent reaction has catapulted the 24-year-old to media stardom. The decision was not for album sales, he says, but for sanity.

Coming out was “about my own sanity and my ability to feel like I’m living a life where … I’m happy when I wake up in the morning, and not with this freakin’ boulder on my chest,” Ocean said in an interview with the Guardian.

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“I wished at 13 there was somebody I looked up to who would have said something like that, who would have been transparent in that way.”

His transparency drew praise from the likes of Beyonce, for whom he’s served as a songwriter, and hip-hop moguls Russell Simmons and 50 Cent. Ocean also has his detractors, such as rapper Mysonne, who claimed Ocean deceived his fan base and purposely timed the news.

“I felt that the timing, also, made it real suspect to me,” Mysonne said. “Oh, now you wait until your album’s about to drop?”

Ocean isn’t too concerned about his critics, or of his identity affecting his commercial success.

“People are just afraid of things too much. … Sure, evil exists, extremism exists. Somebody could commit a hate crime and hurt me. But they could do the same just because I’m black,” he said. “They could do the same just because I’m American.”

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