Three Takeaways From Frank Ocean's Radio Conversation With Jay Z
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Three Takeaways From Frank Ocean's Radio Conversation With Jay Z

February 24, 2017 - 6:35 pm by Pedro Pincay

Playing during Frank's blonded RADIO, the mogul provided a few gems on the state of the music industry everyone should be privy to. 

Frank Ocean took over Beats 1 radio to premiere his "blonded RADIO' show along with the curious "Slide" single with Calvin Harris and Migos, but his conversation with Jay Z might be the biggest gift the artist has given to fans.

During the takeover of sorts, the "Ivy" artist featured portions of a conversation with the mogul on the current state of radio, the makings of advertising in the streaming age and why true artistry might not have the same impact as it did in yesteryear. Hov shows his appreciation for the modern day technology, which he clearly took advantage of with his TIDAL streaming service, and breaks down his disapproval of the radio world claiming it is not serving the purpose it should.

See the three takeaways we got from their convo in the slides above. '

 

Three Takeaways From Frank Ocean's Radio Conversation With Jay Z
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Three Takeaways From Frank Ocean's Radio Conversation With Jay Z

Radio Now Caters To Young White Women
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Radio Now Caters To Young White Women

"It’s pretty much an advertisement model," he said. "You take these pop stations, they’re reaching 18-34 young white females. So they’re playing music based on those tastes." These days, it just so happens that the interests of white women are hip-hop and R&B tunes powered by colossal acts such as Migos, Drake and The Weeknd. Following Jay's logic, once the interest changes, there's a chance acts of the "urban" world might not get a fair shot. Which leads us to...

An Artist Such As Bob Marley Wouldn't Get The Time Of Day In 2017
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An Artist Such As Bob Marley Wouldn't Get The Time Of Day In 2017

Jay claimed that radio has lost its focus saying, "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. It’s not even about the DJ discovering what music is best. You know, music is music. The line’s just been separated so much that we’re lost at this point in time." He also shared a yearning for niche places that often catered to a specific genre, helping the nature of artists in different lanes get their due shine. "They have to revolutionize that thing, you know, be more progressive," he said. "I think with all the technology and where we are today, it’s definitely a more efficient way to get music out. Because it's the whole idea behind having a festival that played all sorts of music. Because no one listens to music like that - you just listen to music more than ever. Back in the days there used to be hip-hop clubs. Like, specific hip-hop clubs. Now every club is a hip-hop club. Every club is a music club. You go in there, you’re liable to hear EDM, hip-hop, you're gonna hear some soul, you’re definitely going to hear “Poison” around 2-3 in the morning."
Advertising Execs Are The Ultimate Hypebeasts
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Advertising Execs Are The Ultimate Hypebeasts

"I think with all the technology and where we are today, it’s definitely a more efficient way to get music out," said Jay when touching on our technological advances in the music world. "It’s unfortunate because with, you know, technology and everything moving forward, we should, it should be a better way that the music, the musicians, radio, and these things that are supposed to be instruments for the arts, should exist." The rapper also made his claim that "it shouldn’t be about advertisement." "It shouldn’t be about—so the more times, you know, someone like yourself can bypass that, it’s better for the, for the arts," he said. "And it’s better for the audience ‘cause you have to have, like, a level of discipline and just a belief to put music out in this place where not everyone can." Listen to the first episode of "Blonded Radio" on Beats 1 Radio here.
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