Entertain Yourself With These Frank Ocean Snapchat Filters While You Keep Waiting For His Album

Frank Ocean played everyone. He hasn’t said a single thing about the status of his Channel Orange follow-up for the past three years or so. It’s actually quite refreshing to not be bombarded with constant updates about a thing. Then out of nowhere this week he uploaded an Apple Music-sponsored video stream. And he still never said what it was. The NYT apparently got the drop and revealed the video was leading up to the release of Boys Don’t Cry today (August 5), but still Frank never announced that. So what happens on the stream as the clock strikes midnight on release day? He literally makes people watch paint dry, on some wooden box he’s made in that workshop.

As of 9:39 a.m. ET on Friday, there is still no album, there is still no update from Frank himself. He, like so many other stars in the past couple years, has found a new way to upend the album rollout and fan expectations. Many fans are frustrated, which is understandable. But I think it’s great. It’s fascinating, in the same way Kanye’s Pablo antics were fascinating. These are important spectacles! They expose the promo cycle for the shallow thirst-bait that it is, and they’re reminders that artists can do whatever they want, on their own timelines, because they don’t owe us listeners shit.

Whether you agree or disagree, whether you feel betrayed by Ocean or not, there’s now a Snapchat filter to help you express yourself. And doesn’t the existence of a Frank Ocean Snapchat filter prove whatever point he’s making with this game?