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Ocean is the eclectically influenced hip-hop artist whose Channel Orange, a textured fusion of hip-hop, soul and R'n'B acclaimed for its story-telling and social commentary, has just been crowned Album of the Year in a round-up of British music critics' picks for 2012. He has also forced the world of hip-hop to confront one of its prejudices.
Hip-hop? Prejudiced?
In July Ocean caused a commotion by coming out as the genre's first openly bisexual artist. Despite hip-hop's macho, often homophobic, milieu, the industry responded positively. Rap deity Jay-Z said: "You're a black man in America whose star is on the rise, working in hip-hop and soul, where gender constructs are cartoonishly fixed."
Where has Mr Ocean come from?
He released his first album, Nostalgia Ultra, on the web last year, and has also written songs for Beyonce and Justin Bieber.
So we'll be hearing a lot more from him?
Not necessarily. The 25-year-old says he might not release another album. "Storytelling's ... the more interesting part... So much so that I might not make another album. I might just write a novel next."
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