Omar Apollo Opens Up about his Explicit Cover Art – 'I Was Nervous About It'

When Omar Apollo dropped his latest EP "Live For Me," he gave his fans a big surprise. The EP, which features his 2023 single "Ice Slippin," has for its cover art a pair of stunning portraits by queer artist Doron Langberg. The front has Apollo seductively reclining on a bed with a hand across his bare chest; but it was the EP's back side that trended when the EP came out earlier this month. Also by Langberg, it is a painting of Apollo's erect penis.

"Omar has never been shy with the thirst traps and finally, he's giving fans what they've been wanting," wrote Pride. "No surprise fans flocked to the singer's official site to preorder the album. Even the singer was shocked and delighted by the overwhelming (and thirsty) response from fans. Two of the three variants have already sold out, and Apollo himself reacted to how quickly fans snapped up copies of the album."

"we sold 1400 in 7 minutes so far omg," he wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

The EP features three additional songs: "Live For Me," "Angel," and "Pilot."

At an "immersive listening experience" for "Live For Me," held at the Museum of Modern Art's PS1 contemporary art institute in Queens, Apollo and Langberg shared a peek behind the scenes," reported the Star Observer.

In a video, posted to X by Senior Vice President of Communications at The Trevor Project Kevin Wong, Apollo said, "We go into his studio, which I've already been in, we hung out, we talked, we had a great time, we connected. Then, we do the first painting. And then I go, 'Let's go get a sandwich, let's go do a lunch break, and then you decide afterwards if you still want to do the dick portrait.'"
Langberg added, "I could tell that you were nervous about it."

"I was nervous about it," Apollo responded, "I'm a confident guy, don't get me wrong, but I was nervous about it."

"But also I could tell that you wanted to do it," Langberg said. "I was like, 'How do I encourage this and make you feel comfortable?'"

The inspiration for the "dick portrait" came from a photo taken by Queer photographer Peter Hujar, added the Star Observer.

"Apollo explained, to laughs and cheers from the audience, that Langberg painted 'from observation.'"

He added that "it was exhilarating. I was like 'woah! What is happening?'" the site reported.

In a lengthy conversation with acclaimed out, Mexican American Willy Chavarria in the New York Times, Apollo opened up about his sexuality. Like Chavarria, Apollo is Mexican-American and out. At one point, Chavarria asked if Apollo was out in high school. "No, I didn't even know I was gay. OK, I did – but not really. I was 17 when it really hit me, and I remember I was in the shower like, 'Damn, that's crazy.'"

Asked about how his gayness is perceived by the public, Apollo said: "I try never to think about the way I'm perceived. It's impossible for me to force my queerness because it's just who I am. My real-life relationships are the ones I want to tend to. The others are totally beyond my control."

Apollo also explained how dramatically his life has changed in little more than a year. "Right before I dropped my first album, 'Ivory,' in April of last year. I was living in an attic in Indiana with asbestos and black mold. My rent was $150, and I could barely pay it with what I made working at Guitar Center. I had almost no money for food, but I'd uploaded my music onto SoundCloud, which is free. A friend told me to also add it to Spotify – he even gave me the money to do it. I uploaded a song that day, 'Ugotme,' and it blew up. It was literally the only way I could have possibly escaped that small, conservative town [Apollo now lives in Los Angeles]. I was making all these unrequited gay love songs."

Check out pics from Apollo's Instagram, including a blurred pic of his explicit back cover: