Frank Ocean Was Let Out of His Def Jam Contract

It looks like what has been described as a "bad marriage" between Frank Ocean and Def Jam is what caused the split between the talented singer and the record label.

It was previously thought that Frank leaving the label was a contractual thing, with him parting ways after meeting his album obligations with the imprint. His Endless project was released on Def Jam and his Blonde album, which came out the following day, was released on his own independent label, Boys Don't Cry.

But, according to Associated Press sources, Ocean was let out of his contract with Def Jam because the two sides didn't see eye-to-eye.

"He didn't want to be on the label," the source said. "He wanted to do his own thing. I'm sure there was some kind of negotiation in order for him to get out of the contract if there were remaining commitments on the contract."

According to the AP, the entire Blonde album was kept a secret from Def Jam until shortly before it came out.

It looks like the move was the right one as Frank reportedly raked in $1 million on the indie release, Blonde. The LP also nabbed the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200 albums chart after a huge first week.

The Billboard milestone is a first for the Long Beach, Calif. singer. According to Nielsen Music, Blonde moved 276,000 units from Aug. 20 to Aug. 25. Out of that number, 232,000 units were from traditional album sales, and the other 44,000 were from streaming equivalent sales.

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