R&B singer Frank Ocean turned down a chance to collaborate with Kanye West because he was determined to make a successful second album without any help from the superstar.
Ocean, a member of controversial hip-hop collective Odd Future, appeared as a guest artist on West's Watch the Throne album with Jay Z.
However, Ocean had no interest in the rapper returning the favour by recording verses for his as-yet-untitled sophomore release - because he only wanted to showcase his own talent.
He tells Billboard.com, "I said (to West), 'As much as I want to work with you... I kind of want to do this without you. I kind of want this to be done without you. I kind of want to do it on my own.'
"I wanted it to be an expansion, sonically I wanted to be the next... tier for me. Just open up, challenging song structures, challenging a lot of the things I made on the last project."