“You don’t know what’s in store
But you know what you here for”
-The Weeknd, High For This
It’s important to understand that I was in my second semester of college, experiencing the beginning of my life as an adult. Finding new ways to love, making old habits die hard and just being a student. I remember the morning of the royal wedding of Prince Philip, I was writing this speech for my public speaking class but taking a break from the long presentation process to listen to some music. Not knowing what i pressed play to, in the sunrise hours of the morning, i was going for the ride of my life.
In some ways, I experienced The Weeknd in the wrong way according to himself, but nonetheless, I was intrigued. On my third refill of coffee, I clicked on this twitter link that led me to a Mixtape link that had me ultimately asking “Who is The Weeknd?”. With a photo of a man with his face blurred, starter locs, and a mysterious candor to himself, I found myself wanting to know more. The album cover was a naked woman with balloons all around her in a bathtub. The mixtape would be known as The House of Balloons. This 9 track Mixtape had so much sultry, drug filled, sexually driven energy, that my mind couldn’t understand what was going on. This was not my parents R & B. To hell, it wasn’t even my older siblings R&B from the 90’s. This was something extreme in comparison, this was an ultimate game changer.
This influenced me to have a party in the trump hotel (Pre-Election), buy out the penthouse suite on the 23rd floor overlooking central park, and recreate the toxicity that we now know as the beginning of a trilogy. Who knew at the time that he was changing the music industry as we saw it. This mysterious man, who didn’t even bother to show his full face until his third tape was released, had a hold on me and a generation of people who wanted the soundtrack to their illicitly filled nights.
Years prior to The Weeknd, R & B was going into an electronic and rock music upheaval. From the production to the way the songs were written, it was either about partying or loving. You would still get your traditional ballads from some of the staples of the genre but nothing changed as we came out of the 00’s decade. With acts like Rihanna, Beyonce, And Ne-Yo exploring the new sounds of music that went against the status quo, there was a storm brewing in the northern hemisphere of america. Drake, who is accredited with the social awakening of the Weeknd, has been a supporter of him since 2010.
"Bring your love baby I could bring my shame." – The Weeknd http://bit.ly/dLGnts
— Drizzy (@Drake) March 7, 2011
With this distinct canadian sound of drowning bass with muffled samples, The weeknd takes you on a ride as if you’re going to a haunted strip club with whatever vices you want in the back. With songs like “Wicked Games”, “What You Need”, “The Party And The After Party”, “The Knowing”, Weeknd talks on the subject of sex, drugs, intimacy, and infidelity in ways that were way more sultry than the norm. Lyrics like:
“I Left My Girl back home
I don’t love her no more
And She’ll Never F*cking know that
These f*cking eyes that i’m staring at”
“Wicked Games”
are what make the weeknd such an enigma inside of R & B and hip hop.
The tempo of the popular R & B music was very fast paced with the melodies to match at the time. Sounds coming from the likes of the contemporary crowd of this genre of music, put this music more of the new generation of R & B. Weeknd was not the first in this new way of R & B. Acts like Frank Ocean and Jhene Aiko were also starting their respective careers. When in hindsight you can see the influence that they currently have on the genre as a whole, but it’s not the clearest vision without a guide. It’s believed that this mixtape is the mixtape that shaped the sound that currently comes out of the canadian side of america that has given acts like Drake, Justin Bieber and PartyNextDoor the ability to breathe a new sense of quality music into the industry.
The production plays a major role in the way that the music is perceived. Doc Mckinney, A long time producer for the Weeknd was a major staple into this sound. He created this sound that The Weeknd used as a backdrop to his climatic stories of his toronto lifestyle. While I can see the influence in today’s artists like, 6LACK, 24KGLD, Gallant, and Brent Faiyaz, Weeknd has gone far beyond his debut mixtape and has solidified himself as one of the most successful artists in the 21st century. Even in today’s age, Weeknd has elevated the genre once again. Making his hit single “Blinding Lights” a certified mainstay on billboard’s top ten for a whole year. But those Balloons on the bathroom floor will forever mean a new change in guard for our generation.
