(AllHipHop News) Frank Ocean returned from out of the shadows in August with two new albums – Endless and Blonde.
The back-to-back drops were viewed by some as a brilliant strategic move to complete his record deal with Def Jam.
Ocean, a notoriously secretive artist, did a rare interview with the New York Times where he talked about dealing with the financial aspect of the music industry.
“It started to weigh on me that I was responsible for the moves that had made me successful, but I wasn’t reaping the lion’s share of the profits, and that was problematic for me,” said Ocean.
It took four years for Ocean to follow up his Grammy-winning album channel ORANGE.
The Los Angeles-based entertainer gained a reputation for being a perfectionist when it comes to his art.
The NYT profile seems to show Frank Ocean is not as concerned about the immediate commercial impact of Blonde.
“With this record in particular, I wanted to feel like I won before the record came out, and I did, and so it took a lot of pressure off of me about how the record even would perform after the fact,” Ocean stated “Once the goal is met, everything else is lagniappe. It’s not essential for me to have a big debut week, it’s not essential for me to have big radio records.”
Ocean did admit he pays attention to album sales for the purpose of knowing where to schedule his live shows and appearances.
Blonde debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 with 276,000 album-equivalent units.
“I guess there’s a satisfaction that comes with looking at numbers like that, and I’m making, like, No Limit-type of equity, Master P-type of equity on my record,” added the 29-year-old singer-songwriter.
Ocean reportedly made over $1.7 million from just one sales week for Blonde.