Frank Ocean's 'Blonde' Set to Debut at No. 1

Frank Ocean is headed to the top of the Billboard 200 for the first time ever thanks to Blonde.

According to Billboard, industry forecasters predict that the album, which dropped Saturday (Aug. 20) exclusively through Apple, will sell 225,000 equivalent album units in its first week.

By comparison, Ocean’s previous album channel ORANGE sold 131,000 copies in its opening week back in 2012. It debuted and peaked at No. 2.

So far, Blonde has garnered rave reviews. Rolling Stone gave it a 4/5 star rating, Adele called it better than channel ORANGE, and Kanye West says he has the album “on repeat.”

https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/767489767005093888

For his part, Ocean has only shared gratitude following the album’s release.

“I HAD THE TIME OF MY LIFE MAKING ALL OF THIS,” he wrote on Tumblr. “THANK YOU ALL. ESPECIALLY THOSE OF YOU WHO NEVER LET ME FORGET I HAD TO FINISH. WHICH IS BASICALLY EVERY ONE OF YA’LL. HAHA. LOVE YOU.”