The Frank Ocean - Omar Apollo connection (2024)

Omar Apollo has released a new single, Dispose of Me, in preparation of his next album drop – another reminder that Frank Ocean has still not followed up Blonde.

To be clear that I like Omar Apollo’s music. Evergreen has been added to at least four playlists (many with a spring/sunshine theme), and the lead single from new album, Dispose Me, will likely receive the same treatment. But let us do as Apollo does, and be frank – Omar Apollo’s popularity is largely thanks to a solid Frank Ocean impersonation that we’ve left unchecked because we need our Frank Ocean fix.

Frank Ocean (Christopher Breaux) came onto the scene in 2011 with his self-released free mixtape Nostalgia, Ultra. You won’t find Nostalgia on mainstream streaming services these days (the result of The Eagles threatening legal action over Ocean’s sampling of Hotel California). The mixtape brought Ocean critical acclaim, as well as brought to light his previous work with the rap collective, Odd Future (most notable members being Tyler, the Creator), Beyonce and Kanye West.

Ocean followed Nostalgia up with Channel Orange in 2012. This was a hard year to be putting an album out – Ocean was competing with career defining releases from the likes of Kendrick Lamar (good kid, m.A.A.d city) , Taylor Swift (Red), Tame Impala (Lonerism), Lana Del Rey (Born to Die), and Justin Bieber (Believe). Despite fierce competition for the aux cord, Channel Orange was huge. With it’s smooth fusion of jazz, R&B, soul, and electronic and excellent storytelling, it cemented Ocean as One To Watch. This made the four wait between Channel Orange and Blonde all the more painful.

I thought his next album would be a similar sonic palate to Channel Orange. I was wrong. Blonde is more experimental than Channel Orange – spanning a wider variety of genres. He experiments with his voice and vocal processing more than ever before to evoke feelings of youthfulness. Again, the storytelling about themes like masculinity, love, and heartbreak are at the forefront here. Blonde is a magnum opus and had the music world in a chokehold. I’ve overheard (and participated in) multiple conversations around whether the first half of Nights is better than after the switch up as recently as 2022.

One would expect Ocean to follow up Blonde quickly so as to not lose the momentum or squander the interest but instead he has essentially disappeared. Except for a handful of singles and features, Ocean has seemingly disappeared into a middling clothing brand, an occasional radio show and a chaotic Coachella performance (reportedly only done to fulfil outstanding contract obligations). Ocean’s disappearance has left a hole in alternative r&b but fear not – Omar Apollo was waiting in the wings.

Apollo has never quite beaten the Frank-Ocean-copycat allegations, and there’s a good reason why. Apollo’s sound sits firmly within the sparse, experimental niche that Ocean had carved out. Songs like Evergreen (You Didn’t Deserve Me At All) and Bad Life feel like they could have been b-sides to Blonde. Bad Life employs a similar warm, guitar tone that’s reminiscent of Self Control. The songs move at a similar pace – languidly floating along until the end, where the both increase the vocal textures. In Self Control, Ocean harmonises with his own voice, whilst Bad Life is a duet with Kali Uchis. It is hard not here similarities between the songs.

Then there is the voice. Apollo’s voice is a dead-ringer for Ocean’s voice. Not only do they have similar timbres, but Apollo’s delivery is remarkably familiar – from the phrasing to the rhythm of the mumble-rap sections.

You might even wonder whether Apollo is on in the joke – or how else do you explain this?

Frank Ocean does not have exclusive rights over coloured hair but it’s hard to not feel like Omar is trying to purposely echo Ocean when they’re clearly sonically kin.

Of course, not all of Apollo’s music sounds like an Ocean reject. His mixtape, Apolonio, brings in genres that Ocean did not – latin trap for example. Yet his biggest hits and his leading singles certainly do. It’s not big leap to think that his growing popularity is riding on the coattails of Ocean, particularly as he has never had to compete head-to-head with Ocean on the charts. Their music releasing has never overlapped (barring a few singles from Ocean), with Apollo beginning to release singles from 2017. Without Frank Ocean actively releasing music, Omar Apollo has been able to skate by without too many direct comparisons. The similarity has not gone unnoticed by listeners - Apollo often topping “if you like Frank Ocean, listen to this” lists.

The Ocean comparisons haven’t seemed to harm Apollo’s popularity or rise to the mainstream in any significant way. Evergreen has around 300 million plays on Spotify, and other songs like Useless and Invincible (feat. Daniel Caesar) have around 50 million. The appetite for Frank Ocean is still there and the public will get it anywhere they can. But let’s be real, if Frank Ocean had maintained a consistent output of music, the space for Omar Apollo would be much smaller.

“But there’s at least fifteen diaristic women songwriters like Taylor Swift now, why cant there’s be multiple Frank Oceans?” you might counter. It’s true, the confessional acoustic singer-songwriter space is pretty full right now with people like Phoebe Bridgers, Gracie Abrams, Olivia Rodrigo, Clairo and Lizzy McAlpine all competing for listeners who’s 2023 Spotify Wrapped towns were Burlington or Berkley (I got Burlington). But none of these women seem to be as close a carbon copy to Taylor Swift as Apollo is to Ocean. They all have slightly quirks, or at least a different voice. When someone like Olivia Rodrigo has strayed a little too close to Paramore or Taylor Swift, there were at least a dozen Reels produced a day on the Death of Originality in the music industry.

People notice. People care. At least stan twitter cares. Omar Apollo gets away with it because Frank Ocean isn’t an active force in the music world at the moment. Yet, it doesn’t appear to be bothering Ocean. Apollo and Ocean have been rumoured to have dated previously, and Ocean was even spotted enjoying Apollo’s opening set on the SZA tour in 2023. It’s unlikely that someone as musically adept as Ocean can’t hear the similarities between his music and his possible-ex-lover/more-likely-friend’s music. If he’s happy to be bopping along at SZA, there doesn’t appear to be any ill-will between the two. Maybe it’s a relief for Ocean to know that his fans have something to listen to now that he’s seemingly retired from music making.

Is Apollo filling-in for Ocean a bad thing? For Apollo, of course not – he’s now got a blossoming career. It might however complicate things for Frank Ocean. If he ever releases music again, will he sound as fresh as he did back in 2016 now that we have popular artists emulating his style? Perhaps Ocean will surprise us all again, innovating once more. Perhaps he’ll never release music again and we should all just be thankful that others are following the blueprints he left behind. Either way, Bad Life is currently the closest we will ever get to a Kali Uchis/Frank Ocean collaboration so I’ll take my wins where I can get them.