Frank Ocean's follow-up to his 2012 debut Channel Orange is projected to enter the Billboard 200 as the #1 album of the week, with 250,000 equivalent albums sold. That's an accolade for the books, with Blond set to be the first chart-topping debut of Ocean's career, and it's some decent bank for the 28-year-old singer/songwriter, considering that's a quarter of a million independent units sold. In other words, Blond, as fans may have assumed, was in fact not released through Def Jam Records.
It has been difficult to keep up with Frank, coming off of a four-year hiatus and a bluffed album release date earlier in the month, fans were suddenly served an 18-track visual album titled "Endless" just before mid-night Friday [August 19], and within 36 hours there were "Boys Don't Cry" pop-up shops selling a "Boys Don't Cry" magazine and merchandise in New York, Chicago, L.A., and London. Those awaiting an official "Boys Don't Cry" drop were indeed complimented with Frank's sophomore effort, but it came under the title Blond.
According to sources, when Ocean put Endless out, he had met his contractual obligation with Def Jam/Universal Music Group. It has now been reported that Blond constitutes Ocean's first release under his own "Boys Don't Cry" imprint.
Source: thefader.com
