GQ: Is it true that you wrote the songs for Channel Orange in three weeks?
Frank Ocean: Yeah, then I worked on them for nine months—a typical gestation period.

GQ: You’re something of a perfectionist, I gather.
Frank Ocean: John Mayer and I were talking in rehearsal before SNL, and he was like, “You love to take the hardest way. You don’t always have to.” But I don’t know about that. It’s like Billy Joel says in that song “Vienna.” When the truth is told / That you can get what you want or you can just get old. We all know we have a finite period of time. I just feel if I’m going to be alive, I want to be challenged—to be as immortal as possible. The path to that isn’t an easy way, but it’s a rewarding way.

You can read the full GQ Feature here.