Frank Ocean Pays Tribute to Virgil Abloh In Rare Statement

Frank Ocean paid tribute to designer Virgil Abloh in a heartfelt statement following his death yesterday. LVMH announced Abloh had waged a private battle with cancer. Ocean shared the tribute on Sunday, paired with a photo of the duo during happier times at the Met Gala in September. He discussed Abloh’s close relationship with him and his younger brother, Ryan, who died in a car crash in 2020.

Through Instagram, Ocean recalled a conversation that he previously had with Abloh. Ocean asked how Abloh could be so successful in his career and still so central in his family and community.

“In 2018 I believe it was I called V and asked him how it was possible to play hundreds of shows a year and do numerous fashion collections a year and be a father and a husband and return EVERYONE’s texts with enthusiasm and emojis and encouragement and seemingly.. with ease. I cannot remember how he responded verbatim but I’m sure it was quotable whatever he said,” Ocean continued. “He was always quotable. But the gist of his response was that he was interested in living and living to the maximum extent of his level… which proved to be Impossible today because he was BEYOND.”

Ocean and Abloh at the Met Gala earlier this year. Photo by Arturo Holmes for Getty Images.

He also recalled how much of an inspiration Abloh was to Ocean’s own music. “When I went to Miami and you played a set on the beach in 2016 you played ‘White Ferrari’ – a song with no drums or bars anywhere to be found lol – and started a sing-along,” he wrote. “When I played demos of shit I was working on or showed you Homer way before it was ready you put the battery in my back.”

Ocean’s Family and Abloh

Ocean, who has rarely spoken publicly about his brother’s tragic loss, then went on to discuss Ryan’s relationship with Abloh. “When Ryan went to his prom you got him some pieces from your new collection at LV and he was GEEKed. Couldn’t get him to take it off,” Ocean wrote. “When my brother passed I never said anything because it was way too much but he loved you and really looked up to you. He was going to fashion school and everything. He wanted to be a designer.”

Ocean closed his statement as one of the greatest songwriters of this century does; with a profound sentence about grief. “I know grief is love that you don’t get to express so is an attempt at expressing it. Love you V. You’re a hero.”

Written by Justin Acosta

Twitter: @hahalacka