Is Frank Ocean About to Ghost on Us Again?

Frank Ocean's canceled two major performances. Is he going back to his reclusive ways?

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Complex Original

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Don't panic, but it seems as if Frank Ocean may be reverting back to his old ways.

Just a few weeks ago, Complex's Ross Scarano praised Ocean for stepping out of his proverbial shell and providing fans with more material over the last nine months than he had in, well, his whole career. On the slate of releases: Blonde, Endless, "Slide," and several songs debuted on his Beats 1 show Blonded Radio.

Ocean appeared to be opening up on the performance end too with a number of major festival performances scheduled throughout this spring/summer. Then, at the beginning of May, he canceled his headlining appearance at Sasquatch:

Update: @lcdsoundsystem headlines #Sasquatch2017 Day 1 replacing Frank Ocean who had to cancel due to production issues beyond his control pic.twitter.com/rfvybSfYTP

This week, he canceled his second headlining appearance, this one previously scheduled for Hangout:

.@wearephoenix will now headline Friday night of Hangout Fest replacing Frank Ocean. Stay tuned later today for schedule. pic.twitter.com/S6wzRJZxHz

In both instances, the reasoning behind the cancelation was due to "production delays beyond his control." We've reached out to a rep for Ocean to clarify, but at face value, that explanation could mean any number of things. 

In the past, we've received more explicit messages when Ocean canceled or postponed performances. A scheduled New York performance in 2011 was dropped after Ocean got sick and couldn't shake the illness that affected his voice. In 2012, he canceled a number of European dates in an effort to rearrange his schedule, which he described as a "tough decision." When he canceled his Australian tour in 2013, it was due to a tear to a vocal cord.

In 2015, Ocean "decided on his own terms to cancel his appearance" at FYF Fest. He's scheduled to headline this year's event.

So what exactly could this "production delay" be? Some have guessed it could mean opening his schedule for a solo tour, while others believe it may be an opportunity for him to work on new music. The former prediction sounds like a long shot, and if it's the latter, that would fall in line with him churning out more music these days. But at the cost of dropping multiple major appearances (and piles of cash)? Doesn't add up, if we're being honest.

Another possibility that people are dreading but not saying out loud: these cancelations may be a sign that Frank Ocean is going back to being reclusive. 

Going ghost is nothing new to Ocean, who's notorious for disappearing after hinting at or scheduling something major. See the canceled performance examples above, or go back two years when he set the internet ablaze after teasing his Boys Don't Cry project.

Sasquatch and Hangout were going to be the first two festival stages Ocean would have touched this year. Should he cancel his next performance, which is set to take place at Primavera Sound Festival in Barcelona Spain in late May, then yes: we should start to worry about the remainder of his festival schedule, which includes Northside (Denmark), Parklife (UK), Panorama (NYC), and Way Out West (Sweden).

I'm not here to criticize another man's decision in how he moves. But if we're talking fan expectations, canceling performances isn't a great way to build trust. It's a loaded question, but what do artists owe their fans? At the very least, their word.

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