We all know him for his big, uncategorized, and chaotic hair*, see him with his 19-year old super model girlfriend, and hear him through his shadowy – yet attractive – tone paired with border-crossing sexual lyrics; but who really is The Weeknd?
Abel Tesfaye, or as we know him, The Weeknd, is no Jonas Brother. He also isn’t a boy-band, as many of us thought when hearing the stage name for the first time. He is a softhearted rebel that is ready to change your world.
Abel Tesfaye is going to be your Michael Jackson, or so he wants to be.
As a high school drop out, Abel went from a habit of bed hopping, sex, and drugs to writing/singing songs on sex and drugs, on the stage, and at the Grammys.
While his lyrics speak for themselves: tempting, smooth, and mysterious, the R&B/Hip-hop artist has more to offer. With a soft-spoken personality Abel leads different personality from the images his songs portray.
“When people meet me, they say that I’m really kind – contrary to a lot of my music,” he said to Rolling Stone journalist, Josh Eells, published in Sex, Drugs, and R&B: Inside the Weeknd’s Dark Twisted Fantasy.
He’s driven through a desire to be different. The Michael Jackson of the ages, Prince, or Whitney; Abel does not just want to be another star; he wants to build something lasting.
“We live in an era when everything is so excessive, I think it’s refreshing for everybody to be like, ‘Who the fuck is this guy?’” Tesfaye told Eells.
And refreshing doesn’t even begin to describe it. It is mystifying.
For a kind-hearted talent his songs are, new. But with a simple, chic style he shares a crucial quality with his songs; they are both mellow. Classically mixing R&B with Hip-Hop Abel successfully writes, and performs, soothing pieces with shadowing feels.
He takes on the stage with nothing but himself and makes a show of it; his vivid lyrics and crisp voice speak for themselves. And right after the show is over he gets in his ride and moves on – avoiding interviews and essentially avoiding the scene.
Though Abel is new to fame, his music has been circulating for years. Working at American Apparel as a teen, his co-workers would listen to his music (under the name The Weeknd) unaware that it was him. When first starting off he performed with Arianna Grande to “Love Me Harder”, and actually rewrote his verse in disfavor of the version he was sent.
But at this point he was only The Weeknd, nothing more than a style and favorite “song of the month” to screaming teenage girls. Now with five albums (one a Trilogy) and hits all over several charts, Abel is becoming the Michael Jackson he aspires to be.
With songs like “In the Night”, a reflection on the Jackson era, Abel mummifies time. In a chilling and symbolic song Abel tells the story of childhood sexual abuse masked with emotion and imagery. “She was numb, and she was so codependent, She was young, and she was forced to be a woman,” read Abel’s lyrics.
His latest hits, mostly found on his last album, Beauty Behind the Madness run a similar emotionally driven style. “Earned it”, written for Fifty Shades of Gray created this brooding atmosphere, followed by the electrifying feeling of “Can’t Feel My Face”, hypnotic stirring of “The Hills”, and hallucinogenic serenading of “Often”.
So, who is The Weeknd, or Abel Tesfaye?
He is refreshing. With lyrics crawling into the darkest of emotions, we can’t escape. Explicit, profane, sensual; he’s got it all. But he still is, like his music, mellow.
Will that make him the Michael Jackson of the new age?
*Check out an evolution of The Weeknd’s hair here!
