22nd February 2012

Question with 23 notes

amal9393 asked: I don't need personal info, i just need a couple of comments about you talking about what attracted you to The Weeknd's music in the first place, how successful do you think he will become in the future, what you expect in his new album, why he keeps info about him on the DL, etc.

There’s nothing that I can say that hasn’t been said already about The Weeknd. He’s phenomenal, He’s passionate. He’s a true talent. Lord knows how hard it is to release one critically acclaimed project in one calendar year, but he dropped three in 2011 and all of them have been well received. In this day and age of artists that’s impossible, It’s unnatural in this age’s music industry to find a young, talented artist who is able to independently create a masterpiece that changes the face of popular music and seems to head towards getting a “classic” title in the future. It’s even harder to find an artist who can do it three times. His voice is simply amazing and cannot be overlooked, also the music is so good it’s undeniable. Each mixtape shows him pulling another trick out his sleeve, and bringing something new to the table. However, he never strays too far away from his trademark sound. He’s set the bar so high with these releases that I wonder if he’ll be able to create something as brilliant in the upcoming future. But I just enjoy what he’s given us up ‘til now…

Before The Weeknd I didn’t listen to much R&B music anymore. I still enjoyed most of the quality, classic R&B albums I have in the stash but it was harder and harder for me to find good R&B music these days and  My R&B collection is pretty huge LOL, You might catch me listening to anything from greats like Stevie wonder, Curtis Mayfield, Marvin Gaye, Prince, to Usher, Ginuwine, Jon B, JT, Craig David, Musiq, Bilal, Dwele, Raphael Saadiq, Eric Roberson, Glenn Lewis, Ne-yo, D’Angelo, Maxwell, to the Pied Piper of R&B & even Chris Brown but my favorite is the King of Pop himself, Michael Jackson. When it comes to being an entertainer no one is up there with MJ and no one will ever be as close to what he did. Usher and Chris Brown are both great singers & dancers but neither is able to do what MJ does from a songwriting/songmaking standpoint. That’s when The Weeknd came out of nowhere…

After listening to his music for the first time with What You Need, I realized how similar The Weeknd’s voice was to MJs. A lot of people look at MJ as an all around entertainer but that takes away from his great singing voice and knack for melodies. Throughout the course of the trilogy & HOB in particular I began to notice more and more just how much The Weeknd owes his sonic style to Michael Jackson. From the adlibs to the moans and grunts to the “baby’s”. The Weeknd is what I envision Michael Jackson would sound like if he had Drake on his records. Combine a soulful R&B vocal style reminiscent of Usher’s brilliant 1997 album My Way and electronic beats with an authentic artistic vision like Michael Jackson’s you get Abel Tesfaye…

I don’t think he’s that mysterious, I just think he wants his music to speak for itself, I know that’s kind of strange in this “digital” era but as long as you’re an artist and you present you’re work for the public to enjoy it isn’t necessary to be in the limelight. I do believe he took that concept from great’s like MJ and Elvis who also did the same.

From a ‘personal’ perspective, what makes me even a bigger fan is that we share the same interests, taste in music and film, just the whole perspective and passion towards art in general, if it’s great movie directors like Scorsese, Coppola, David Lynch or musicians like MJ, Pink Floyd and The Beatles. I admire how he took his film influences for example like David Lynch and incorporated it in his music. When you watch a movie by Lynch or listen to a song by The Weeknd you can’t stop paying attention, but you’re not sure if it’s because it’s brilliant or because it’s crazy. Both artists clearly tap into something deep and unsettling, but it’s unclear whether either has a plan but it doesn’t matter because its masterfully executed. To me The Weeknd is more like a filmmaker than a musician, using his music as his camera, he scrapes his psyche for powerful imagery and lets us fill in the blanks of the narrative, he has a knack for identifying disturbing images like on Initiation, HOB and Life Of The Party…

Tagged: the weeknd