Frank Ocean made a rare public appearance earlier this week at Spotify’s Secret Genius Awards.
The Secret Genius Awards are designed to celebrate people within the songwriting community that contribute to the creative work behind some of the most streamed songs on Spotify.
The Legendary Genius Award went to producer Rick Rubin and Frank Ocean was on hand to present the award.
Ocean was a man of few words, with his full speech reading: “Howdy, everyone! It’s my pleasure to present the Legendary Genius award to my friend Rick Rubin. Come get this thang!” Watch Ocean present the award below.
Last month, Frank Ocean shared a photo diary and essay for an issue of i-D magazine.
The R&B performer graces the Winter 2017 cover of i-D, contributing a 32-page photo essay that includes self-portraits, pictures from his recent tour and a shot of filmmaker Spike Jonze.
“You can answer a lot of questions with ‘Yes.’ But you can answer many more with ‘No.’,” Ocean writes in an accompany note. “No is run of the mill. Yes is a gem.”
He adds: “Whenever I feel alone I watch live television, something about it being okay on their end makes it okay on mine. Onstage one in-ear is my mic feed and the other one is a Tim Ferriss podcast. I go long periods without talking but I raise my voice when the people on the phone are in loud places. I’ve never given my fans nicknames because the ones I think of are embarrassing.”
“I’m world famous,” Ocean continues. “I had peace in my twenties. Big Pharrell praying hands those weren’t mutually exclusive. If you want to make your 30s sound appealing just mention ‘sexual prime.’”