The Frank Ocean song that Beyoncé secretly sang on
Beyoncé has been the lead singer for the entirety of her career, and since her Destiny’s Child days, she has always been front and centre with her vocals. Whether she’s in films such as Dream Girls or at the Super Bowl Halftime show, the ‘Crazy In Love’ vocalist is usually front and centre. However, while recording one Frank Ocean song, she decided to take a back seat.
Akin to Beyoncé, Frank Ocean is a fantastic songwriter, but few know he was on the Houston native’s radar long before he released Channel Orange and Blonde. In fact, he wasn’t just on Beyoncé’s radar; he was also known to Jay-Z.
Before Ocean joined the renowned and revered Odd Future, he was doing a lot of songwriting in Los Angeles. To the surprise of many, he actually wrote hits for well-known pop stars like Justin Bieber, Alicia Keys, John Legend, Brandy, and others. That said, he recorded his first mixtape in 2009 while in a songwriting deal with Def Jam.
Nostalgia Ultra, which Ocean released for free, really kickstarted his entire career, catching the attention of many people, including Kanye West, Jay-Z and Beyonce, who all knew that he was a diamond in the rough and a musician who would be very valuable to have on their team.
That said, while listening to Ocean and learning about him, Beyoncé became more than just a consumer of his music, but an actual fan! In an interview with Complex, Bey explained how she was hooked by Ocean, beginning, “Jay had a CD playing in the car one Sunday when we were driving to Brooklyn. I noticed his tone, his arrangements, and his storytelling,” she said. “I immediately reached out to him – literally the next morning. I asked him to fly to New York and work on my record.”
Frank Ocean wrote her 2011 track ‘I Miss You’ for her album 4, and he sang on the song ‘Superpower’ from her 2013 self-titled album. That said, because Ocean had lent his vocals to a Bey song, she felt obliged to return the favour whenever Frank needed it. However, she didn’t even ask to be officially credited when she sang on a Blonde single.
In 2016, when Frank Ocean released his Blonde, one of the favourites was ‘Pink + White’, a track produced by Ocean and Pharrell Williams. However, upon listening to the song, one can’t hear lead vocals from Beyoncé. Still, there are backing vocals, and despite the track not being branded as a feature with Beyoncé, it is noted in the credits that she secretly sang for the track.