Frank Ocean fans have been waiting for years for a new album since his Grammy-winning Channel Orange debuted in 2012, and after a mysterious livestream appeared online earlier this week it seemed like we would finally be able to listen to his followup, Boys Don’t Cry. (Apple Music even announced it had the exclusive.)
But midnight came and went, with no album in sight. Again. Some fans feared this would happen—the New York Times even doubted it might happen, noting in its exclusive that “Given the number of delays the album has already had, it seems possible that Mr. Ocean could decide to put off the release beyond Friday”—but we held out hope anyway. We were, for the time being, duped once again. We’re all the Charlie Brown in this scenario, and Ocean’s Lucy Van Pelt will always pull away that football—that is to say, the album he said he’d release.
We did, however, get a couple of fitting Snapchat filters so we could collectively commiserate about the lack of Boys Don’t Cry in our lives.
https://twitter.com/positivepcy/status/761500770755903488
The filters are commentary about the running joke that Ocean’s album will never arrive just as much as it’s acknowledgment of the event itself. One of them even features a skeleton waiting for Boys Don’t Cry because we might all be dead by the time it happens.
But for fans, it was another broken promise—and another chance to meme the hell out of his missed deadline.
https://twitter.com/662Fred/status/761428825574088704
Waiting on Frank Ocean's album like pic.twitter.com/sw3ZDzvMvv
— Khadi Don (@KhadiDon) August 5, 2016
https://twitter.com/PRIDEofPACK/status/761462997801984000
Forget the music at this point. I want the Frank Ocean album to drop so the Frank ocean jokes can stop.
— Vic (@VictorPopeJr) August 5, 2016
when frank ocean's album didn't drop @ 12AM EST, PST, or CT pic.twitter.com/rC4So7xZ59
— DOMINIC SCOTT (@dominicscxtt) August 5, 2016
Apple: Hey Frank have you sent the link of the album yet?
— rafael. (@rafaxodiaz) August 5, 2016
Frank: Album?
Apple: Frank….
Frank Ocean: pic.twitter.com/Gmt1zj8Gmy
https://twitter.com/ChefMabrie/status/761448704939134977
When #FrankOcean lies and plays with your feelings more than your ex did. #boysdontcry pic.twitter.com/Tum9oMZqzC
— tre (@burrough_) August 5, 2016
Ocean, of course, doesn’t owe his fans anything. So for now, we’ll patiently wait for what we can only assume is perfection—even if we’re just mere skeletons by the time it comes out.
New Frank Ocean is great pic.twitter.com/Y8CmtbSpWp
— BuzzFeed (@BuzzFeed) August 5, 2016
When Frank Ocean's album drops and i press play for the first time pic.twitter.com/o5iG07vJTG
— JP (@Jprz1321) August 5, 2016
Maybe Ocean still needed time to perfect Boys Don’t Cry. After all, even Kanye West withheld an album’s release so he could tweak it at the last minute (and again after its release).
But more importantly, we’ve still got more than 12 hours until Aug. 5 is over. Maybe—just maybe—we’ll get it before the end of the day. We’ll make it up that hill.
H/T Digital Trends