Abel Makkonen Tesfaye, known by his stage name, The Weeknd, was born February 16, 1990 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The genres found throughout years of his musical career include R&B/soul, dance/electronic, gospel and pop. When Tesfaye was in grade 11, he dropped out of school and left home, leading to a life of partying. During this time, he began writing songs about more mature topics, eventually pairing him with his first three songs. Down the road, his music became more sophisticated, as he found his passion.
After years of record breaking albums, he released his sixth studio album, “Hurry Up Tomorrow” Jan 31, 2025 through XO and Republic Records. The album features confirmed guests Playboi Carti and Anitta. Production was handled by the Weeknd, Max Martin, Oscar Holter, Pharrell Williams, Mike Dean, Ojivolta, Twisco, and Sean Solymar as main features.
Track four, “Dancing In The Flames,” returns the blinding lights feel with its impressive cinematics and visuals. The instrumentals combine different sounds using piano, vocals, guitar, bass, and synthesizers. When exploring the lyrics, they provide imagery and themes of love, desire, and vulnerability, resonating deeply with the listener.
Next up, “Open Hearts,” is the kind of song that makes you want to drive down a long, light-filled street at night, completely lost in the music. The instrumentals on this song are phenomenally placed throughout the track. My thoughts on what this track represents is vulnerability, love, and emotional openness reflecting the complexities of relationships.
Following that, “Timeless,” is a hip hop trap featuring Playboi Carti. What makes this track so ‘timeless’ is its instrumentals throughout, creating great combinations of bass and synth. I’m not very fond of its lack of connection to the theme of the album, almost making it irrelevant to the album entirely. Even so, it’s a side of The Weeknd that hasn’t been seen in quite some time.
His strangest song, “São Paulo”, is an intriguing addition to the album. With an underwhelming and out of the ordinary music video, the seventh song, “São Paulo,” is an intriguing addition to the album. The instrumentals on this track provide the listener with a new type of genre from him; Brazilian funk. The Weeknd is showing his ability to experiment, which could be a risk when creating music for his amount of monthly listeners. The risk comes from the amount of genre changes throughout his career, but his audience usually supports all of the switches.
