Frank Ocean is beefing with Travis Scott over their “Carousel” collaboration on Astroworld.
According to TMZ, Ocean and Scott had a fallout over the song in the weeks leading up to the album’s August release.
Ocean reportedly doesn’t like the way his Auto-Tuned vocals were altered on the chorus and third verse. Frank’s pitch is noticeably higher on the third verse than the chorus, but it’s unclear exactly what changes were made that upset him.
He is now demanding that Travis remove his part, but Travis isn’t budging, so he has decided to take legal action. Frank’s lawyers have sent a cease and desist to Travis’ team to remove him from “Carousel.” Travis reportedly has no plans to comply.
Astroworld, which also features Drake, The Weeknd, and Kid Cudi, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in August with 537,000 equivalent album units, the second-largest overall week for an album in 2018.
UPDATE: Frank Ocean has responded to reports that he wants to be removed from Travis Scott’s Astroworld. Taking to his Tumblr page, the reclusive singer revealed that he recorded “Carousel” to Travis’ liking.
“I think the song sounds cool, I did it in like 20 minutes and the mix sounds the way Travis wanted it to sound for his record,” he explained.
He threatened legal action not because of the song, but possibly because of the controversial Astroworld cover art. Transgender model Amanda Lepore was removed from the David LaChapelle-shot artwork, a decision that caused backlash in the LGBTQ+ community. “I also approved it before it came out so the cease and desist wasn’t about 🔊 it was about 🏳️🌈,” said Ocean, using the rainbow flag emoji.
However, he and Scott have since settled their issues. “Me and Travis resolved it amongst ourselves weeks ago. 💖”
Travis returned the love on Instagram, posting a photo of Ocean’s “Blonded” Panorama T-shirt alongside his own merch. “Someone I call family and always will,” he wrote. “Has taught me a ton. And a true inspiration in an out of the Stu.”