Frank Ocean Defends Controversial Name For His Gay Club

(AllHipHop News) Frank Ocean is one of the most highly-respected, highly sought-after artists to ever grace the music industry.

The Long Beach R&B singer exploded onto the scene with his debut single “Novacone” in 2010 and has since released two critically-acclaimed albums: Channel Orange and Blonde.

On Thursday evening in New York, Ocean launched his new nightclub titled PrEP+.

The name pays homage to what would have been possible in the 1980s if the preventative drug PrEP was invented in that era.

Frank received backlash for naming the venue after a drug that helps prevent AIDS.

Apparently, members of the LGBTQ+ community were not pleased with Frank’s attempt to “rewrite history.”

He explained: “I’m an artist, it’s core to my job to imagine realities that don’t necessarily exist and it’s a joy to.”

He continued: “A couple days before we threw the party, I was discussing this subject with my team and one of the architects I work with thought that PrEP as a drug had reached ‘100% saturation’ so far as awareness. I thought he was dead wrong so I asked a friend (who I won’t name haha) if he knew what PrEP was and his response was ‘isn’t that some type of Viagra or something.’ My ex who I was with for several years didn’t know about it when we first met at a gay club in L.A. Awareness isn’t always what we’d hope it would be.”

https://twitter.com/blondedocean/status/1185274085527433222

On top of starting his own queer nightclub, the venue rules state that there will be zero tolerance for hate in any capacity.