Frank Ocean is offering free merch to anyone who votes today, as a way to encourage his fans to become more politically active. He updated his Tumblr page — his primary form of communication with his fans — to provide the rules and locations for picking up the items.
https://twitter.com/FRANKOCEANinfo/status/1059837447075491841
Bringing proof of voting in the form of a photo at the ballot automatically qualifies any interested person to pick up their free merchandise. According to the post, the locations were selected to support specific candidates, including Stacey Abrams in Georgia, who would become the state’s first Black female governor if elected, and Texas’ Beto O’Rourke, who would return control of his state’s Senate seat to the Democrats for the first time in over two decades.
Earlier today, on the return of his Beats 1 Radio show, Blonded Radio, he made it clear that he’s firmly against right-wing candidates and policies, especially as they’ve tended to endorse conspiracy theories like Pizzagate and employ tactics like gerrymandering and voter suppression to maintain control over their respective jurisdictions.
Frank didn’t advise exactly what merch would be available at his giveaway, but his intriguing new take on political activism is part of a wider swing in hip-hop toward becoming more involved in current events and activism in general, including Chance The Rapper and Kanye West supporting Chicago’s mayoral candidate Amara Enyia.
