While Frank Ocean’s debut mixtape nostalgia, ULTRA, has played a central role in the mythmaking of his career, it turns out the project’s title came to the New Orleans-born singer in five minutes. Back in 2011, he delved into the backstory behind the 14-track work in an interview with Complex.
“It’s nostalgic. It’s a longing for the past. That’s what this record felt like,” he said. “I named it five minutes before we finished mastering. Right before we had to write the labels on the CDs and get out of there. Ultra because it’s also modern because of the sonics of it. It felt right. That’s how I am. I just go with it. The only big debate was whether I was going to use the slash or the comma, but the comma felt right, too.”
He also touched on the inspiration behind the album art that showcases an ‘80s model of a bright BMW. “When I did the artwork after we mastered it, I was feeling the same thing,” he said. “That’s my dream car. It’s been my dream car for a minute. That E30 M3. That’s been my shit. I was the kid who had a bunch of car posters and girls in bikinis, all over my wall in middle school.”
The mixtape features prominent samples like Coldplay’s “Strawberry Swing,” MGMT’s “Electric Feel,” and Radiohead’s “Optimistic.”
However, his use of the Eagles’ “Hotel California” on “American Wedding” drew criticism from drummer Don Henley. “Don Henley… is apparently intimidated by my rendition of ‘Hotel California,’” Ocean wrote in a now-deleted Tumblr post. "He (They) threatened to sue if I perform it again… I think that’s fuckin' awesome… They also asked that I release a statement expressing my admiration for Mr. Henley, along with my assistance pulling it off the web as much as possible. Shit’s weird. Ain’t this guy rich as fuck? Why sue the new guy?”
The other sampled artists were more receptive to his work. Coldplay ended up inviting him to open for the band on their European tour back in 2012. Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood was later credited for his string orchestration on Ocean’s cover of The Isley Brothers‘ “At Your Best (You Are Love).”
Elsewhere in the Complex interview, he touched on genre boundaries—and why he tagged the mixtape as “bluegrass” and “death metal” on iTunes. “I don’t want to seem like I have a cause against genres, or maybe I do, but I didn’t think about it that much,” he said. “Bluegrass is swag. Bluegrass is all the way swag.”
Ocean is set to headline Coachella along with Rage Against the Machine and Travis Scott in April. Last year, he dropped a string of tracks, including “DHL” and “In My Room.”
Read Complex’s full story here, and catch up on all the lyrics to nostalgia, ULTRA on Genius now.
