I've written some great things. That's a gift, but there's consequences. Yeah, you get this great work, but you suffer. You really, really suffer.
Interpretation
Creating art can lead to both great achievements and deep personal struggles.
In this quote, Frank Ocean reflects on the dual nature of artistic expression, highlighting that while creating impactful works can be considered a gift, it often comes with significant emotional and psychological costs. The act of sharing one's creativity can elicit both joy and pain, underscoring the sacrifices artists endure in pursuit of their craft.
In practice
In a speech about the challenges of artistic expression, one could mention this quote as a reminder of the personal sacrifices artists make.
Whenever I think about movies, I always look at that art process as having the best of a lot of worlds. Because if you watch a great film, you have a musical element to it, not just on the scoring, but in the way that the shots are edited - that has music and rhythm and time.
It's about the stories. If I write 14 stories that I love, then the next step is to get the environment of music around it to best envelop the story, and all kinds of sonic goodness - sonic goodies.
I think we all change each other's paths. I don't know which law idea that is in physics, but I don't think any of us can live without affecting one another.
Work hard in silence, let success be your noise.
We were poor. But my mom never accepted that. She worked hard to become a residential contractor - got her master's with honors at the University of New Orleans. I used to go to every class with her. Her father was my paternal figure.
Some people focus more on sonics. Some people focus more on story. I focus on both sonics and story, but music sometimes, just music itself, can turn into more of a maths problem. I guess everything in life is a math problem, but it can be more about an empirical route to getting the symmetry that you want, and this vibe, sonically.
The ugly can be beautiful. The pretty, never.
You have to be aware of what the audience's expectations are, and then you have to pervert them, basically, and hit them upside the head from a direction they weren't looking.
Clarity, clarity, surely clarity is the most beautiful thing in the world, A limited, limiting clarity I have not and never did have any motive of poetry But to achieve clarity.
It was Elvis that got me interested in music. I've been an Elvis fan since I was a kid.
As you get older, you have different tools, and you learn to use photography differently.
Till now I have never shot a scene without taking account of what stands behind the actors because the relationship between people and their surroundings is of prime importance.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.