Radio Is Dictated By What Young White Women Want To Hear - Jay Z Tells Frank Ocean

It’s no secret that Frank Ocean is one to rebel against the business model of modern music. But when he launched his new Beats 1 radio show “blonded RADIO” on Apple Music today (Feb. 24), he showed that he’s not alone in feeling this way.
Though the Grammy-winning singer didn’t make an appearance on the show himself, DJs Vegyn, Roof Access, and Federico Aliprandi played snippets of a conversation Frank had with rap mogul Jay Z during the inaugural episode. During this convo, HOV denounced the state of modern music’s practices, saying radio today is “pretty much an advertisement model.”

“You take these pop stations, they’re reaching 18-34 young white females,” explained Jay. “So they’re playing music based on those tastes. And then they’re taking those numbers and they’re going to advertising agencies and people are paying numbers based on the audience that they have. So these places are not even based on music. Their playlist isn’t based on music. If you think a person like Bob Marley right now probably wouldn’t play on a pop station. Which is crazy.”

You take these pop stations, they’re reaching 18-34 young white females,” explained Jay. “So they’re playing music based on those tastes. And then they’re taking those numbers and they’re going to advertising agencies and people are paying numbers based on the audience that they have. So these places are not even based on music. Their playlist isn’t based on music. If you think a person like Bob Marley right now probably wouldn’t play on a pop station. Which is crazy.”

Jay’s gripes with the industry come at a time when he is being praised as one of rap’s best. Earlier this week, it was announced that the Brooklyn Boy would become to first rapper inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

“By the way, this is a win for US,” Jay tweeted as a reaction to his induction news. “I remember when rap was said to be a fad . We are now alongside some of the greatest writers in history.”

No word yet on if Frank’s “blonded RADIO” will be a series or a one-off. Either way, you can check the episode now via Apple Music and peep the tracklist of the radio broadcast below.

1. Frank Ocean, “Nights”
2. Kodak Black, “Tunnel Vision”
3. Future, “I’m So Groovy”
4. Migos, “Get Right Witcha”
5. Calvin Harris feat. Frank Ocean and Migos, “Slide”
6. NAO, “Bad Blood”
7. Oukast feat. Erykah Badu, “Humble Mumble”
8. Celine Dion, “All By Myself”
9. The Isley Brothers, “The Highways of My Life”
10. Prince, “Adore”
11. Prince, “When You Were Mine”
12. Prince & The Revolution, “The Beautiful Ones”
13. Miles Davis & Robert Glasper feat. King, “Song for Selim”
14. Sade, “Love Is Stronger Than Pride”
15. Yussef Kamaal, “Yo Chavez”
16. Esperanza Spalding, “Judas”