Let’s hit the weekend with The Weeknd
Canadian singer The Weeknd is one of the best-known R&B artists of our time.
Abel Makkonen Tesfaye, singer, songwriter known widely for his unique singing style, vocal tone, and a versatile presentation. Although he is a rhythm and blues singer he plays around with different sounds and genres and creates his own sound as an artist. The start off of his career was in 2010 when he posted videos on Youtube and a year later he released his mixtapes called: House of Balloons, Thursday, and Echoes of Silence. This led him to quickly capture a mainstream audience.
He was born in Toronto, Canada on February 16, 1990, his parents are Ethiopian immigrants. After his parents split, he was brought up by his grandmother and mother. In his teenage years, he was already smoking ecstasy, oxycodone, Xanax, cocaine, and psilocybin, which didn't come as a surprise as he stated that he started smoking marijuana at the age of 11. His stage name was inspired by his drop-out status in high school, “left one weekend and never came home”.
Albums
He has come out with four studio albums in total. His latest album is called After Hours which was released on March 20, 2020. This album took the longest to prepare and consists of songs that were even recorded in 2018.
The Starboy album which was released on November 25, 2016, consists of many collaborations and features with numerous artists like Daft Punk, Lana Del Rey, Kendrick Lamar, and Future. It also attained positive reviews from the critics as well as summited the Billboard chart.
I personally like this album the most out of all he has put out. Beauty Behind the Madness contains my favorite songs from him. This album touches different music styles, some songs have a pop feel, some have a trap, as well as disco and alternative tones.
Songs
The songs that stand out for me are;
In Your Eyes Remix feat. Doja Cat
This song feels very fresh and has a disco-pop kick which makes it even better with the retro feel. This is the remix version of the original song which didn't include Doja Cat, but I feel her soft and light vocals with her raspy rap speaking section add an extra flavor to the song. And makes it IMMACULATE.
I Feel It Coming ft. Daft Punk
I Feel It Coming is from his third studio album, Starboy. This song again contains a pop feel but with electro- rhythmic sounds. It's a groovy song with a chill vibe to it. The synths and the video add a futuristic quality to it.
The Hills
This particular song is more of his dark work. The lyrics, the built, and the drop all hit very hard. It has a strong base to it when the drop comes, the lyrics are more at the vulgar end. In the video, the car explodes keeping the excessive dark and rugged theme.
This year he may have been mistreated with his nominations on music awards but his domination on music charts has said otherwise. Without him speaking about this matter, his music speaks its work for him. His dark contemporary r&b music has chill vibes to it. But his strong beats, as well as pop-influenced songs, allows people of different music taste to enjoy his music. I, myself, who listens to a variety of music can appreciate his songs to the fullest.
