Who's Next: the Future of R&B (2012 Edition)

From Mark Edward Nero, former About.com Guide

Who He Is: Frank Ocean is an R&B singer-songwriter who's originally from the New Orleans area and grew up with the name Christopher Breaux, but adopted his stage name after moving to Los Angeles after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. He's the R&B member of the LA hip-hop collective known as Odd Future and is signed to Def Jam Records. He released a brilliant, well-received mixtape titled Nostalgia, Ultra in February 2011, and since then he's worked with Beyonce, Jay-Z and Kanye West, among others.
What's Next for Frank: A commercial release of Nostalgia, Ultra never came about due to issues clearing the huge number of samples on it, but Frank's official debut album is due out sometime in 2012. In the meantime, a steady stream of unofficial and semi-official songs by him manage to leak on almost weekly basis.
Listen Up: Nostalgia, Ultra can be streamed and downloaded legally and for free at mixtape site datpiff.com.