FRANK OCEAN: Hip-Hop Reacts to Singer Coming Out

The response from the hip-hop nation to Frank Ocean’s admission that he is bi-sexual has been overwhelmingly positive. “Today is a big day for hip-hop," wrote Russell Simmons on his website GlobalGrind. "It is a day that will define who we really are. How compassionate will we be? How loving can we be? How inclusive are we? His gifts are undeniable. His talent, enormous. His bravery, incredible. Frank, we thank you. We support you. We love you."

Tyler the Creator, who has been accused of homophobia in the past, was also supportive of his Odd Future collaborator. "My Big Brother Finally [Freaking] Did That,” tweeted Tyler. “Proud Of That [Man] Cause I Know That [Stuff] Is Difficult or Whatever. Anyway. I’m a Toilet."

Tyler later added, “Imma start singing, so like all of Frank’s [women] you can come over here and like holla at your boy.” To which Ocean later tweeted, “Hahahaha you still ain’t got no [women] hahahha my dawg."

Insiders were also predicting that Ocean’s honesty would not hurt his career. “I’ve been saying an openly gay male artist with REAL talent will win? Frank Ocean about to be so many people Hero,” tweeted TV and radio personality Charlemagne the Great.

“Frank Ocean's gonna have a big first week, watch,” tweeted label veteran Dante Ross. “Respect his honesty and dig his music more than ever he just did some Jackie Robinson ish.”

Ocean shocked the hip-hop world Tuesday night when he admitted that his first love was a man.

“Four summers ago, I met somebody. I was 19 years old. He was too,” Ocean wrote on his Tumblr account. “We spent that summer, and the summer after, together. Everyday almost. And on the days we were together, time would glide. Most of the day I’d see him, and his smile.”

“Sleep I would often share with him,” he added. “By the time I realized I was in love, it was malignant. It was hopeless. There was no escaping, no negotiating to the women I had been with, the ones I cared for and thought I was in love with.”

He added: “I don’t have any secrets I need kept anymore…I feel like a free man.”

Ocean's new album, Channel Orange, is due in stores July 17th.