''Blonded Radio'' (stylized as ''blonded RADIO'') is
Frank Ocean
Frank Ocean (born Christopher Edwin Breaux; October 28, 1987) is an American singer and songwriter. He has been credited by several music journalism, music critics as a pioneer of the alternative R&B genre. Ocean has won two Grammy Awards and a B ...
's
Apple Music 1
Apple Music 1, previously branded as Beats 1, is a 24/7 music radio station owned and operated by Apple Inc. It is accessible through iTunes or the Apple Music app on a computer, smartphone or tablet, smart speaker (such as the Apple HomePod), a ...
radio show that originally lasted from February to August 2017, with four additional special episodes that aired in November and December 2018, four more episodes from October to December 2019, and another episode in December 2021. The show is hosted by Ocean, Vegyn, and Roof Access and usually airs a new single from Ocean each episode. A fictional radio station based on the show, titled "
Blonded Los Santos 97.8", was added to the video game ''
Grand Theft Auto V
''Grand Theft Auto V'' is a 2013 action-adventure game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It is the seventh main entry in the Grand Theft Auto, ''Grand Theft Auto'' series, following 2008's ''Grand Theft Auto IV'', and ...
'' in December 2017.
History
Original run (2017)
Episode 001, aired on February 24, 2017. The episode showcased the collaborative song "
Slide
Slide or Slides may refer to:
Places
* Slide, California, former name of Fortuna, California
Arts, entertainment, and media Music Albums
* ''Slide'' (Lisa Germano album), 1998
* ''Slide'' (George Clanton album), 2018
*''Slide'', by Patrick Glee ...
" by record producer
Calvin Harris
Adam Richard Wiles (born 17 January 1984), known professionally as Calvin Harris (and sometimes under the stage name Love Regenerator), is a Scottish DJ, record producer, singer, and songwriter. His debut studio album, ''I Created Disco'' (2007 ...
featuring Ocean and rappers
Quavo
Quavious Keyate Marshall (born April 2, 1991), better known by his stage name Quavo (), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as the frontman of the now-defunct hip hop group Migos. Formed with his nep ...
and
Offset
Offset or Off-Set may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* "Off-Set", a song by T.I. and Young Thug from the '' Furious 7: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack''
* ''Offset'' (EP), a 2018 EP by singer Kim Chung-ha
* ''Offset'' (film), a 200 ...
from the American hip hop group
Migos
Migos () were an American hip hop group founded in Lawrenceville, Georgia, in 2008. The group was composed of rapper Quavo, his nephew Takeoff, and their "cousin" friend Offset. Quavo is from Athens, Georgia, while Offset and Takeoff were bo ...
. The episode also included an interview with
Jay-Z
Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American Rapping, rapper, businessman, and record executive. Rooted in East Coast hip-hop, he was named Billboard and Vibe's 50 Greatest Rappers of All Time, the ...
talking about the current state of radio and the music industry.
Episode 002 aired on March 10, 2017, with the single "
Chanel
Chanel ( , ) is a French luxury fashion house founded in 1910 by Coco Chanel in Paris. It is privately owned by French brothers, Alain and Gérard Wertheimer, through the holding company Chanel Limited, established in 2018 and headquarte ...
", a song about Ocean's
bisexuality
Bisexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or Human sexual activity, sexual behavior toward both males and females. It may also be defined as the attraction to more than one gender, to people of both the same and different gender, ...
. The episode ended with repeats of "Chanel", sometimes featuring a verse from rapper
ASAP Rocky
Rakim Athelaston Mayers (born October 3, 1988), known professionally as ASAP Rocky ( ; stylized as A$AP Rocky), is an American rapper. Born and raised in Harlem, he embarked on his musical career as a member of the hip hop music, hip hop coll ...
.
Episode 003 aired on April 8, 2017. The episode ended by playing a new single titled "
Biking
Cycling, also known as bicycling or biking, is the activity of riding a bicycle or other types of pedal-driven human-powered vehicles such as balance bikes, unicycles, tricycles, and quadricycles. Cycling is practised around the world fo ...
", featuring rappers Jay-Z and fellow
Odd Future
Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All, better known as Odd Future and often abbreviated as OF or OFWGKTA, was an American alternative hip-hop Musical collective, music collective formed in Los Angeles, California in 2007. The group consisted of rap ...
member
Tyler, the Creator
Tyler Gregory Okonma (born March 6, 1991), known professionally as Tyler, the Creator, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He has been cited as an influential figure in alternative hip-hop during the 2010s. Tyler beca ...
who have both previously collaborated with Ocean. He previously streamed a trailer for the song on his website, featuring a different instrumental.
Episode 004 aired on April 23, 2017. The episode featured "Lens", which included an alternative version featuring rapper
Travis Scott
Jacques Bermon Webster III (born April 30, 1991), known professionally as Travis Scott (formerly stylized as Travi$ Scott), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. Scott has had five number-one hits on the U.S. ''Bil ...
.
The next morning, Episode 005 aired with a
Young Thug
Jeffery Lamar Williams II (born August 16, 1991), known professionally as Young Thug, is an American rapper. Known for his eccentric vocal style and fashion, he is considered an influential figure in modern hip hop music, hip hop and trap music ...
remix of the song "Slide On Me" from Ocean's 2016 video album ''
Endless''.
Episode 006 aired on May 15, 2017. The episode aired with the first single from
ASAP Mob
ASAP Mob (stylized as A$AP Mob) is an American hip-hop collective formed in 2006 in Harlem, New York City, that consists of rappers (most of whom carry the "ASAP" moniker; except Da$H and Playboi Carti), record producers, music video directors, ...
's then-upcoming album ''
Cozy Tapes Vol. 2: Too Cozy.''
RAF features vocals from
ASAP Rocky
Rakim Athelaston Mayers (born October 3, 1988), known professionally as ASAP Rocky ( ; stylized as A$AP Rocky), is an American rapper. Born and raised in Harlem, he embarked on his musical career as a member of the hip hop music, hip hop coll ...
,
Quavo
Quavious Keyate Marshall (born April 2, 1991), better known by his stage name Quavo (), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as the frontman of the now-defunct hip hop group Migos. Formed with his nep ...
,
Lil Uzi Vert
Symere Bysil Woods ( ; born July 31, 1995), known professionally as Lil Uzi Vert, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. Born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, they gained initial recognition following the release of the commer ...
, two different rap verses from Ocean, and additional vocals from
Playboi Carti
Jordan Terrell Carter (born September 13, 1995, or 1996), known professionally as Playboi Carti, is an American rapper. Known for his eccentric vocal style and fashion, he is considered an influential figure in modern Hip hop music, hip hop a ...
. A solo version of "Biking" with no featured artists and a new third verse was also aired.
After a summer hiatus due to Ocean performing at music festivals, Episode 007 aired on August 27, 2017, with the single "Provider".
Hiatus and specials (2017-2019)
On December 12, 2017, a fictionalized version of the show was launched in ''
Grand Theft Auto V
''Grand Theft Auto V'' is a 2013 action-adventure game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It is the seventh main entry in the Grand Theft Auto, ''Grand Theft Auto'' series, following 2008's ''Grand Theft Auto IV'', and ...
'' and its online counterpart ''
Grand Theft Auto Online
''Grand Theft Auto Online'' is an online multiplayer action-adventure game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It was released on 1 October 2013 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, 18 November 2014 for PlayStation 4 and Xbo ...
'', as an in-game radio station called ''blonded Los Santos 97.8 FM'', as part of a content update.
On November 6, 2018, three midterm specials were aired throughout the day, in collation with the
midterm elections
Apart from general elections and by-elections, a midterm election refers to a type of election where the people can elect their representatives and other subnational officeholders (e.g. governor, members of local council) in the middle of the te ...
that were held in the United States,
as well as the release of new merchandise given to those with proof of voting for free in Houston, Atlanta, Miami, and Dallas. On December 25, 2018, Ocean premiered "blonded Xmas", a curated
Christmas music
Christmas music comprises a variety of Music genre, genres of music regularly performed or heard around the Christmas and holiday season, Christmas season. Music associated with Christmas may be purely instrumental, or in the case of Christmas ...
playlist. None of these episodes featured any new music.
A ''Blonded Radio'' poster was put up on sale on February 24, 2019, with a message reading:
Return to air and PrEP+ (2019)
On October 19, 2019, Ocean hosted his first PrEP+ party. It was described as an “homage to what could have been of the 1980s' NYC club scene if the
nowiki/>HIV-preventing">HIV.html" ;"title="nowiki/>HIV">nowiki/>HIV-preventingdrug Pre-exposure prophylaxis">PrEP
PowerPC Reference Platform (PReP) was a standard system architecture for PowerPC-based computer systems (as well as a reference implementation) developed at the same time as the PowerPC processor architecture. Published by IBM in 1994, it allow ...
(pre-exposure prophylaxis)... had been invented in that era.” The poster for the event featured the words “Blonded Radio”. During the party, two remixes were played for unreleased songs by Ocean: Dear April (Justice Remix) and Cayendo (Sango Remix). New merchandise was made available on the blonded.co website following the event, as well as a listing for both songs on vinyl. Highlights from the event were aired on blonded 008 the same day, including the new song “