50 Cent Reveals Support for Frank Ocean
50 Cent became the latest artist to show support for rising R&B hotshot Frank Ocean – who revealed he fell in love with a man in a note posted on his website almost two weeks ago – during a recent interview with MTV U.K.
“Anyone that has an issue with Frank Ocean is an idiot,” the rapper said. “I think Frank Ocean is a talented artist, I think he’s created material that made me know his name, that impressed me, with things he said on a song like ‘Novacane.'”
While for 50 the quality of Ocean’s music ultimately outweighs his sexual orientation, the New York-born MC did mention how close Ocean’s open letter came to the release of his highly anticipated debut, Channel Orange: “You can call it brave or you can call it marketing, because it was intentional – it wasn’t an accident.”
50 Cent also alluded to other artists who have grappled with their sexual orientation in the past, like R&B legend Luther Vandross (who was widely rumored to be gay, though such claims were never confirmed) and Kenny Greene of the group Intro, who came out as bisexual in a 2001 interview before he died of complications caused by AIDS.
“There are artists before who have made these choices, just not having made the choice to expose it to the general public before an actual release of music,” 50 Cent said.
It should be noted that Ocean said he was posting his letter to address rumors regarding his sexual orientation, after a British journalist asked the singer about the use of the pronoun “him” on several Channel Orange tracks.
50 Cent joined Beyonce and Russell Simmons, among others, in expressing support for Ocean.
“Obama is for same-sex marriage,” the rapper said. “If the president is saying that, then who am I to go the other way?”