me:  http://www.theboombox.com/2012/07/03/frank-ocean-gay/

thots?

 Alexander:  written about it on tumblr/ilm/etc already

i wish the headlines everywhere were less focused on the fact that he's gay

and more on....

the substance?

it's not a standard coming out

it's not PR

 me:  well r and b constructed around masculine/masculine narratives is actually really quite new

and that's interesting

 Alexander:  it's just an honest and open statement of self-discovery

oh, well yes

i just meant

have you read his letter?

oh

you're jsut reading the gossip

http://frankocean.tumblr.com/post/26473798723

he posted on his tumblr a letter that is/was supposed to be the thank yous in the liner notes of his new album

and it's like

just intensely beautiful

and while i understand why a lot of the story is OMG hip hop + queer --> what will the impact be on his career prospects etc.

or charitably, 'it doesn't matter if he's gay, the music is good'

when it's just a radical moment of honesty.

and frankly

hip hop needs more of those

thats whats interesting

 Alexander:  well, gay people need more of those

even compare this to anderson's a few days ago

which was all "this is who i am and i value my privacy but it's important to be out."

 me:  fuck anderson, you know, the public private access bubble

 Alexander:  it all feels so managed

just the most recent example

whoever

anderson, quinto, nph, whatever

i like them all

but

NPH aside maybe

it's all very "ok. i have commented. let us move on."

 me:  there are no texts

the coming out isnt the beginning of a construction of self

it's the end o

and so it continues the idea of censoring

of closing off

 Sent at 2:57 AM on Wednesday

 Alexander:  mm

 me:  mm?

 Alexander:  mulling over your statement

i'm not sure if i can have clear thoughts about it yet

i'm still re-reading individual sentences

" 4 summers ago, I met somebody. I was 19 years old. He was too. We spent that summer, and the summer after, together. Everyday almost. And on the days we were together, time would glide. Most of the day I’d see him, and his smile. I’d hear his conversation and his silence … until it was time to sleep. Sleep I would often share with him. By the time I realized I was in love, it was malignant. It was hopeless. There was no escaping, no negotiation with the feeling. No choice. It was my first love, it changed my life"

 me:  its terribly beautiful

but you know, he;s still doing strip club anthems...

 Alexander:  um.

not really?

i mean, i'm sure he might have one or two

but this was the lead single

 Alexander:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F15IjgyHd60

Frank Ocean - Thinking About You [Official Music Video]

 me:  but Pyramids...?

 Alexander:  sure.

but i don't see the issue with that?

i mean. he hasn't said if he's gay or bi. there are three or four songs supposedly about dudes

 me:  does the linear notes work in context of the songs

 Alexander:  and a bunch that are addressed to "you"

one or two songs about women don't de-queer him

 me:  true, and we have to stop thinking of monosexuality

thats the other thing

has there been a construction of male sexual fluidity post 1970s?

 Alexander:  i'm busy basking in the falsetto on thinkin bout you

and just offhand, not to parse lyrics but

2:20 of thinkin bout you

is totally about getting with a guy for the first time

 me:  i need the album

 Alexander:  anyway

it is 3 am

and i should probably try to sleep

 me:  sleep well

can i blog this, btw

 Alexander:  empty bed. not used to it

the conversation?

 me:  yep

 Alexander:  sure

 Sent at 3:06 AM on Wednesday