“I got the lube, got condoms too. Forget romance—don’t take a chance.”

That’s the underlying message of trip-hop singer Karter Louis’s “SAFESEX,” a dance track that debuted on World AIDS Day 2009. While Louis is HIV negative, he speaks (and sings) about HIV from experience.

Like many people in his generation, he watched loved ones die of AIDS-related illnesses, the 43-year-old, openly gay singer told POZ, adding that young people today don’t witness that devastation. He’s referring to HIV’s shift from death sentence to a manageable illness with the introduction of combination therapy in the mid-1990s.

In response to today’s alarming rates of sexually transmitted infections and unplanned pregnancies among America’s youth, Louis is bringing his critical message for young people to where they are: the dance floor.

“[Today], there is a lot of focus on getting people tested and getting people treated,” he says, “but there is still a need to talk about prevention.”

To listen to the track, visit myspace.com/getkarter.