Frank Ocean may have been one of the foremost pioneers of the subgenre jokingly referred to as “PBR&B” during its heyday in the early part of the decade, but in new interview with W Magazine, the elusive singer-songwriter suggests he’s moving in a new musical direction informed by another, often overlooked subset of Black American music tradition. When asked “What are you looking at and thinking about these days?” he gave a response that may provide a window into the influences on his next musical iteration.
“I’ve been interested in club, and the many different iterations of nightlife for music and songs,” he says. “And so the things I look at now have a lot to do with those scenes: Detroit, Chicago, techno, house, French electronic…” He also specifies that “the closest to the nightlife scene for me was New Orleans bounce,” but that he’s “really looking forward.” When asked what new projects he has in mind, he cheekily notes that he’s “working on doing four underwater laps in the pool,” but that he is also “always working on music and other things.”
One of the other things that Frank has been working on includes writing the foreword for an upcoming Moonlight book that includes the Academy Award-winning film’s original script.
