Frank Ocean has become the ultimate cultural touchstone for 21st century queers: a gay, black musician whose music resonates so widely that music title Pitchfork recently rated his magnum opus Blonde the greatest album of the 2010s. And yet, despite his name still dominating headlines three-and-a-half years since his last formal release, he remains one of the industry’s most elusive figures.
So when he does something – anything – everybody sits up and takes note. Under his creative moniker Blonded, Frank has just announced his first ever club night, and it’s a queer fantasia that asks the question: what would the 1980s LGBT clubbing scene have been like had PrEP – the drug taken to prevent high-risk individuals from contracting HIV/AIDS – existed back then? As the AIDS crisis took hold, what was once a time of queer rebellion soon transformed into the community’s darkest era. With the club night, Frank intends to bring back 80s queer nightlife in a more optimistic light.
Titled PrEP+, the first one starts tonight in New York City, and in future promises an abundance of globally-celebrated DJs. Alongside it, he’s announced four house rules everyone must follow: no photos or videos are allowed; consent is mandatory; zero tolerance for racism, homophobia, transphobia, sexism, ableism or any form or discrimination; and the dance floor is for dancing.
Rules like those are important for a Frank-spawned event, as is the select guestlist. LGBTQ+ safe spaces around the world are becoming an increasing rarity, with venues closing as a consequence of gentrification. For Frank to use his platform to spearhead a new event like this is promising: hopefully it will favour a predominantly queer guestlist over the hypebeasts that love him just as much. If all goes to plan, we might just have a new legendary club night on our hands.
Fancy heading down? Better luck next time: ticket links have already been sent out to a select few participants for the first night of PreP+, and the location won’t be disclosed to those people until later today. All we know is that it’s bound to be sexy, fun and gay as fuck.
Update: Frank debuted new music! Well, a snippet. Listen to it here. Happy Friday and you’re welcome: