Frank Ocean has published a letter to his Tumblr where he responds to the critical comments about his 2013 Grammys performance made by the show’s producer Ken Ehrlich and writer David Wild.
In a Rolling Stone podcast, Wild and Ehrlich discussed Ocean’s ‘Forrest Gump’ performance at the 2013 Grammys saying they advised the singer about the performance but he was rigid in his ideas. “Frank had a very definite idea of exactly what he wanted to do and how he wanted to do it,” Wild said. “Ken said, that’s not great TV, and what he’s taught all of us is, ‘We’re not putting on a radio show… you have to make it a TV moment.’ And he knew from the start that that was not one of those moments.”
Frank Ocean has now blasted the producers on his Tumblr where he questions the overall authority of the GRAMMYs. He even calls Taylor Swift’s 1989 winning over Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp A Butterfly a “faulty TV moment”.
Ocean also mentions that he was interested in paying a tribute to Prince on the show. Read the full text below.
Ok Ken (and David). As much as I hate to make you guys famous or even respond to you directly. We all die one day and you’re old so fuck it. Yea yea my 2013 performance at the Grammys was absolute shit. Technical difficulties, blah blah. Thanks for the reminder. Very much appreciated. Fuck that performance though. You think that’s why I kept my work out of the Grammy process this year? Don’t you think I would’ve wanted to play the show to ‘redeem’ myself if I felt that way? In reality, I actually wanted to participate in honoring Prince on the show but then I figured my best tribute to that man’s legacy would be to continue to be myself out here and to be successful. Winning a TV award doesn’t christen me successful. It took me some time to learn that. I bought all my masters back last year in the prime of my career, that’s successful. Blonde sold a million plus without a label, that’s successful. I am young, black, gifted and independent.. that’s my tribute. I’ve actually been tuning into CBS around this time of year for a while to see who gets the top honor and you know what’s really not ‘great TV’ guys? 1989 getting album of the year over To Pimp A Butterfly. Hands down one of the most ‘faulty’ TV moments I’ve seen. Believe the people. Believe the ones who’d rather watch select performances from your program on YouTube the day after because your show puts them to sleep. Use the old gramophone to actually listen bro, I’m one of the best alive. And if you’re up for a discussion about the cultural bias and general nerve damage the show you produce suffers from then I’m all for it. Have a good night.
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