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Jason Merritt/Getty ImagesThe shocking death of Prince Thursday has left many artists recounting on how the pop icon influenced not only their music, but their art.
Frank Ocean, was one of the musicians to offer his thoughts about the late Rock & Roll Hall of Fame member. The channel ORANGE album creator posted an intimate tribute to Prince in a Tumblr post.
Although Ocean admits he never had the opportunity to meet the legend, he explains that the Prince did influence him musically and personally.
In his post, Ocean praises Prince for giving him the courage to embrace his sexuality. He also acknowledges the “Purple Rain” singer for taking a stand against the corporate music structure and for fighting for artists’ rights.
Ocean writes, “He was a straight black man who played his first televised set in bikini bottoms and knee high heeled boots, epic. He made me feel more comfortable with how I identify sexually simply by his display of freedom from and irreverence for obviously archaic ideas like gender conformity etc. He moved me to be more daring and intuitive with my own work by his demonstration – his denial of the prevailing model…his fight for his intellectual property – ‘Slave’ written across the forehead, name changed to a symbol… An all out rebellion against exploitation. A vanguard and genius by every metric I know of who affected many in a way that will outrun oblivion for a long while. I’m proud to be a Prince fan(stan) for life.”
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