Last night, I witnessed Frank Ocean perform at a sold out show at Terminal 5 in NYC. I really enjoyed it and so did the young crowd of 3,000+. Playing through most of his two recent projects, channelORANGE and nostalgia/ULTRA, the crowd kept cheering all night, stopping only long enough to sing along to nearly every one of Ocean’s songs.

A few months ago, I went to a much smaller show—I saw the Weeknd at the Bowery Ballroom. Like the Ocean show, the crowd was young, lively, and diverse. They could recite all of his lyrics, and the energy was unbelievable.

What connects both Frank Ocean and the Weeknd are their upbringings. They are the leaders of a new class of R&B hopefuls—the first of their genre to leverage the internet to debut new music, build an audience, and change the content of R&B. Furthermore, it’s apparent that Frank Ocean and the Weeknd have found fans, through their music and its availability online, that feel genuinely invested in their careers and success.

Read More