Abel vs The Weeknd. The Weeknd Covers GQ Magazine & sat down for a new interview.
Last Night, The Weeknd said goodbye to “After Hours” to kick off his new Era “The Dawn is Coming” as he teased a new song through a trailer. After kicking off the new Era, The Weeknd also becomes the latest artist to Cover the GQ Magazine. Along with a photoshoot where he is rocking his new look in a black suit, The Weeknd also sat down for a long interview.
As GQ’s first-ever global cover star, Canadian singer The Weeknd divulged intimate secrets of his personal life. The “Starboy” singer discussed how he keeps business and his almost-sober lifestyle and love life apart. During the discussion, the artist, who is known for getting into character for his album releases, discussed how he keeps his on-stage persona while also functioning in real life.
During the session, the Canadian artist talks on several topics, including the difference between Abel & The Weeknd, why he stays anonymous, how he got his name, drinking occasionally, his mixtape “Kiss Land”, Coachella, Trilogy, 2018 EP My Dear Melancholy, being compared to Michael Jackson, Grammy snub, artists he would like to work with, meeting Jim Carrey and much more.
The Weeknd holds the longest-charting solo artist single in history, with billions of streams worldwide. The Weeknd spent his pandemic licking LSD-dipped frogs while wearing a red blazer. Meanwhile, Abel was binge-watching The X-Files. He informed GQ’s interviewer, “Everyone copied those, dude.” “Everyone.”) Abel speaks about obtaining a good night’s sleep in the same manner that someone could speak of nice MDMA. He’s rediscovering Los Angeles: last year, when the streets were deserted, he began taking long walks. He exudes a kind of civility that can only be found in the world’s politeness capital (Ontario, Canada). The Weeknd is the person who, like in The Hangover, ruins the suite at Caesars Palace.
Check out some of it below and head to GQ Magazine for the full interview.
GQ: What is the difference between Abel and The Weeknd?
The lines were blurry at the beginning. And as my career developed—as I developed as a man—it’s become very clear that Abel is someone I go home to every night. And The Weeknd is someone I go to work as.
So am I interviewing The Weeknd or Abel?
I think you’re getting a Jekyll and Hyde situation right now. [Laughs.]
GQ : https://t.co/JvobgdXuWT pic.twitter.com/fopRKGys9f
— The Weeknd (@theweeknd) August 2, 2021
How do you feel about people thinking you’re a dark person?
I am not dark. My art is dark, and I’ve gone through dark times. I’ve used those dark times as inspiration for my art. But I feel like because I’m not dark, I was able to channel it and put it into my music and into my art.
What was the original reason for your anonymity?
I don’t know. Maybe there is a deeper issue with that, but I feel like with me it’s never been about the artist and the image of the artist. With House of Balloons, nobody knew what I looked like. And I felt like it was the most unbiased reaction you can get to the music, because you couldn’t put a face to it. Especially R&B, which is a genre that is heavily influenced by how the artist looks.
So where does the name The Weeknd come from?
That’s what the album House of Balloons used to be called: The Weekend. I was still Abel. I didn’t love my name. So I called myself The Weeknd.
There’s chatter on the internet that you’re sober or sober lite.
I like sober lite.
Do you drink?
I do. Occasionally. I’m not a heavy drinker, as much as I used to be. The romance of drinking isn’t there.
Why did Kiss Land fall short? Was it the label people pushing and pulling you in different directions or what?
Oh, no. The exact opposite. Kiss Land is not a label’s type of record. Especially since it’s the debut album. As a debut record, there was an expectation for it. I guess, for me, it was the fourth album. I feel like I said everything I needed to say on Trilogy—and that sound and whatever I wanted to put out into the universe. It created a genre, and I made 30 of those fucking songs. I think by the time I got to Kiss Land, I was definitely emotionally tapped out. I did three albums in one year—plus I was working on Take Care too. And that was all in 2011.
That’s an insane run.
Then I went on tour. Jimmy Iovine told me this, and I’ll never forget it. He goes, “You never want to finish an album, let alone make an album, on tour.” That album, I made on tour. Kiss Land was a very tour-driven album. And you have to understand, I’d never left Toronto up to that point. I’d been in Toronto my entire life. I’d never been on a plane until I was 21 years old.
What was the inspiration for your 2018 EP, My Dear Melancholy?
I used it as therapy. I made it in like three weeks. I knew exactly what I wanted to say. I knew how I wanted it to sound—and that was it. And then I performed it at Coachella, and boy, was that therapeutic, because I was hearing people scream and sing along to “Call Out My Name.” Just me and a guitar. Then I went to Brazil and those festivals, and hearing literally like 80,000, 90,000 people screaming every word to “Call Out My Name”—it felt good.
In some ways, we still don’t know the full story about what happened with you and the Grammys. So what happened?
I guess I just wasn’t good enough.
You don’t actually believe that, though, right?
I don’t believe that, but to their standards, that’s what it is. I wasn’t good enough, and that’s the reality of it.
How many of the red blazers from After Hours do you own?
A lot.
More than 10? Fifteen?
I would say 20…yeah. And there was the Super Bowl blazer. So 21. Yeah.
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Who would you like to work with soon?
I’d love to work with Arca. Arca’s great. I’d love to work with Kanye again. Especially on production. I got mad love for Tyler, the Creator, and what he’s doing right now. Tyler is funny, man. I remember he came to one of my performances—I think it was like a festival performance. And he was very vocal about how “Starboy” was his favorite song at the time. You can tell he’s waiting for the song. I could see him. As soon as the song happened, he’s like, “All right, cool. Thanks.” And he just peaced out. It was pretty funny. But he’s somebody that I really admire, because he wears his feelings on his sleeve.
How do you feel about being compared to Michael Jackson?
It’s a roller coaster, because Michael is somebody that I admire. He’s not like a real person, you know? When I started making music, that’s all I wanted to aspire to, just like every other musician. So then when I started getting those types of comparisons, I invited them, because it’s like who wouldn’t want that? But I guess the older I got, and the more I started understanding who I was, it was very important for me to realize: How do I become that for someone else? Because I know James Brown was that for Michael. And I’m not trying to say I’m Michael’s successor or whatnot. But I’m excited to be the first Weeknd.
Source: GQ
