The build-up to Frank Ocean's Blonde has been four years in the making, and the emotional rollercoaster he put fans through didn't stop them from buying and streaming the album: Citing "industry forecasters," Billboard reports that Blonde is expected to debut in the No. 1 slot on the Billboard 200 chart.
Since being made available for sale on the iTunes store and for streaming on Apple Music on August 20, it looks like the album will top the chart with 225,000 to 250,000 equivalent album units for the week ending August 25. For comparison purposes, Channel Orange moved 131,000 copies in its first week and debuted at No. 2.
Following the album's release, Ocean shared a personal note on tumblr that read in part, "Boys do cry, but I don’t think I shed a tear for a good chunk of my teenage years. It’s surprisingly my favorite part of life so far. [...] Maybe that part had its rough stretches too, but in my rearview mirror it’s getting small enough to convince myself it was all good. And really though… It’s still all good."
