Beyoncé releases ‘4’ with Frank Ocean feature “I Miss You”

Frank Ocean co-wrote and sings background vocals in Beyoncé’s track “I Miss You,” which debuted with her fourth studio album, 4, on June 24, 2011. The song was written by Ocean, Shea Taylor, and Beyoncé Knowles, with the latter two handling its production.

On March 12, 2011, Ocean shared a photo of himself in the studio with Beyoncé on Tumblr, which he deleted shortly after posting. The picture was taken at MSR Studios in New York City. He described his experience recording with her in the post’s caption, writing:

This is the room I’m working in this day. Not to brag, but man, this is surreal. Like… [Beyoncé is] singing my songs. If time were to stop right now, the past couple weeks would be near the top of the highlight reel for my short time on earth.

Beyoncé & Frank Ocean (Tumblr: @frankocean, 2011-03-12).

Update 2011-07-19:

In an interview with Complex, Beyoncé revealed that her collaboration with Ocean happened after her husband, Jay-Z, played one of Ocean’s songs in the car during a drive together, stating:

Jay had a CD playing in the car one Sunday when we were driving to Brooklyn. I noticed his tone, his arrangements, and his storytelling. I immediately reached out to him—literally the next morning. I asked him to fly to New York and work on my record.

UPDATE 2011-11-28: Frank Ocean covered “I Miss You” at the Bowery Ballroom in New York City (Frank Ocean Tour, Nov. 2011).

UPDATE 2012-07-14: Frank Ocean performed “I Miss You” at the Commodore Ballroom in Vancouver, Canada, on July 14, 2012 (Channel Orange Tour, Jul.–Aug. 2012).

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