HERE COMES BEYONCÉ

Logic and convention would dictate that Beyoncé’s forthcoming Columbia album would come out this weekend, although no release date has yet been announced. But the megastar has amply demonstrated that she is not ruled by accustomed industry logic or convention.

Here are some reasons a release over the weekend would make sense:

• An HBO special, Lemonade, airs on Sat. (4/23). Though the teasers are oblique as to the content, the snippets revealed thus far suggest a series of new videos, which means we could “see” the album in its entirety on the show. (Her self-titled “sneak attack” set from Christmas 2013 had a vid for every song). One would expect the music to become available to capitalize on the audience for Lemonade. Of course, she could release the album immediately after the show debuts. You'll recall that she commenced general ticket sales for her tour immediately after her Super Bowl appearance.
  
  
• The new Drake set, Views From the Six, is due the following week, with a million in his first week a possibility. Which means Queen Bey—who will have the biggest bow of 2016 UNTIL Drake comes out, projected somewhere between 400k-500k—has but one chance at a #1 chart bow if she doesn’t want to wait until well into May. Then again, she doesn't have to go with a Friday release, and as long as the record precedes Drake into the marketplace by even a day she'll have her #1.
  
  
• With her tour kicking off on 4/29, she’ll presumably want to have the album available then.

Of course, Bey is in that rarefied tier of artists who can truly do whatever the hell they want. Did we mention that anything's possible?

Meanwhile, other questions remain:

What kind of exclusives and/or windowing are in place? Will there even be streaming? Will Tidal be getting any exclusive content? If so, how does she avoid the issues that Kanye’s Tidal exclusive caused?

When will physical product be available? Will there be an exclusive/deluxe edition via a particular retailer?

Will a single go to radio timed with the special?

We’ll have the answers to these and other questions soon; in the meantime, let’s take a look at how her last few albums have performed.

Now if you'll excuse us, we're off to shop for an Ivy Park onesie.