On the Charts: Frank Ocean’s ‘Blonde’ Soars to Number One

Frank Ocean‘s much-anticipated new LP Blonde soared to Number One in its debut week as the album formerly known as Boys Don’t Cry sold 276,000 in its debut, earning it the third-best opening sales week of 2016 behind Drake’s Views and Beyoncé’s Lemonade.

Of Blonde‘s hefty total, 232,000 copies came from traditional iTunes-only album sales, while the rest came from bulk streams as a result of the singer’s Apple Music exclusive, Billboard reports. Blonde also gave Ocean his first Number One album, improving on the Number Two debut of Channel Orange in 2012.

Earlier in the week, Billboard announced that Ocean’s visual album Endless would not be chart eligible for numerous factors, including the fact that it was only available as one continuous stream and not as bite-size tracks, therefore limiting its bulk streaming totals. 

Due to the expiration of Ocean’s Def Jam deal – Endless fulfilled his contract with the label – Blonde also became the first Billboard 200 topper to be independently released since Garth Brooks’ Blame It On My Roots box set in 2013.

In addition to Blonde, a pair of new releases also cracked the Top 10: Tory Lanez’s debut LP I Told You entered at Number Four and 52,000 copies while Lindsey Stirling’s Brave Enough claimed Number Five with 49,000 in sales.

Drake’s Views remained at Number Two, one spot ahead of the two-time charts champ Suicide Squad soundtrack, which slipped from Number One to Number Three. Twenty One Pilots’ Blurryface placed at Number Six, followed by Adele’s 25 (Seven), Rihanna’s Anti (Eight), DJ Khaled’s Major Key (Nine) and the Hamilton Broadway cast recording (Number 10).

Next week, Blonde will face competition from Barbra Streisand’s new duets LP Encore: Movie Partners Sing Broadway as well as Britney Spears’ Glory.