Frank Ocean celebrated the 10th anniversary of his debut album Channel Orange on Sunday (July 10) by reviving blonded RADIO, in addition to releasing a new line of merch. The elusive R&B singer debuted two new episodes of his Apple Music radio show, which are described in a press release as “a series orientated on ‘how to change your mind.'”
The first episode, titled “blonded Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds,” finds Ocean interviewing psychologist Dr. James Fadiman, known as “the Father of Microdosing,” over a 35-minute instrumental scored by himself.
The second, dubbed “blonded ENERGY!” and also featuring an instrumental backdrop, is a conversation between the Blonde crooner and Chinese teacher Master Mingtong Gu about self-realization and the healing practice of Qi Gong.
During “blonded Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds,” Ocean revealed he’s been working on something in Malibu, California over the summer while recounting a psychedelic experience.
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“I was working in Malibu this summer and I would go out, like, pretty late from the studio and there’s, like, a big population of coyotes in Malibu,” he said. “And then when I would go outside I would see, like, all these bunnies running around and it reminded me of video games where you’re, like, a wizard or something. And you’re playing this role in this game and you’re running around and you have these little things to pick up and put in the pouch.”
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Frank Ocean’s merch drop includes a collection of white and black blonded RADIO logo T-shirts featuring the words “post radio quality since 2017,” a nod to when the show first launched. Adding to the 10th anniversary celebrations is a double-sided Channel Orange poster, which Ocean updated his Spotify banner with. All items are available on Ocean’s official website.
The new blonded RADIO episodes follow Frank Ocean’s surprise Christmas episode last December, which featured an unreleased nine-minute song, as well as a monolog from Dutch motivational speaker Wim “The Iceman” Hof.
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As one Twitter user pointed out, these recent episodes all share a common theme of coping with and healing from loss. Frank’s 18-year-old brother, Ryan, tragically passed away from a vehicle collision in 2020.
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The follow-up to Frank Ocean’s acclaimed 2010 mixtape Nostalgia, Ultra, Channel Orange spawned hits such as “Thinkin Bout You,” “Pyramids” and “Lost,” as well as collaborations with André 3000, Earl Sweatshirt and Pharrell.
The album debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 after selling 131,000 copies in its first week and won the Grammy for Best Urban Contemporary Album in 2013. It has since been certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
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Endless and Blonde followed in August 2016, although Ocean has yet to release an album since then. He was reportedly shopping his third LP to various labels last year.
