The Insane True Story of The Weeknd

More here:

Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
01:51 Weeknd's Early Life And Musical Beginnings
06:49 House of Balloons & Trilogy
10:52 Kiss Land
14:07 Beauty Behind the Madness
19:35 Starboy
23:10 After Hours
30:36 Dawn FM
41:15 Conclusion

BIO OF THE WEEKND:
Abel Makkonen Tesfaye (Amharic: አበል መኮነን ተስፋዬ; born February 16, 1990), known professionally as the Weeknd, is a Canadian singer and songwriter. A prominent figure in contemporary popular music, he is noted for his unconventional music production, artistic reinventions, and his signature use of the falsetto register. His accolades include four Grammy Awards, twenty Billboard Music Awards, twenty-two Juno Awards, six American Music Awards, two MTV Video Music Awards, a Latin Grammy Award, and nominations for an Academy Award and a Primetime Emmy Award.

Born and raised in Toronto, Tesfaye began his career in 2009 by anonymously releasing music on YouTube. Two years later, he co-founded the XO record label and released the mixtapes House of Balloons, Thursday and Echoes of Silence, which gained recognition for his style of contemporary and alternative R&B and the mystique surrounding his identity. In 2012, he signed with Republic Records and rereleased the mixtapes in the compilation album Trilogy. He explored dark wave in his debut studio album Kiss Land (2013), which debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200. After its release, Tesfaye began contributing to film soundtracks, with his acclaimed single "Earned It" from Fifty Shades of Grey (2015) winning the Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance, while also being nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song.

Tesfaye earned critical and commercial success with his pop-leaning second album Beauty Behind the Madness (2015), which reached number one in the US, contained the US Billboard Hot 100 chart-topping singles "Can't Feel My Face" and "The Hills", and won the Grammy Award for Best Urban Contemporary Album and was nominated for Album of the Year. His trap-infused third studio album Starboy (2016) saw similar commercial success and included the US number-one single of the same name and "Die For You", and won the Grammy Award for Best Urban Contemporary Album. Tesfaye explored new wave and dream pop with his critically acclaimed fourth studio album After Hours (2020), which featured the chart record-setting single "Blinding Lights" and the US number-one singles "Heartless" and "Save Your Tears". His dance-pop inspired fifth album Dawn FM (2022) included the US top-ten single "Take My Breath".

Among the world's best-selling music artists with over 75 million records sold, Tesfaye holds several streaming and Billboard chart records. He is the first Canadian artist to earn four diamond-certified singles from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), as well as the first artist to simultaneously hold the top three spots on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. "Blinding Lights" became the most-streamed song in Spotify history, and is ranked as the greatest Hot 100 song in Billboard history. Tesfaye was listed by Time as one of the world's most influential people in 2020, and was dubbed the "world's most popular artist" by Guinness World Records in 2023. An advocate for racial equality and food security, he was appointed a World Food Programme Goodwill Ambassador in 2021.

#volksgeist #theweeknd #afterhours #dawnfm #blindinglights #heartless #music #videoessay

[hags]

DawnFM will become one of those albums people find years later and realize it was so good. DawnFM is a thematic masterpiece and great continuation of After Hours.

[suiiuu]

he has truly made hits, after hits, after hits.... he was born for this

[aleemuddin]

Kissland is that one album. That feels like it’s not good when you listen to it first time, but as the time passes on you will only fall in love with it.

[ER-code]

Am I the only one that absolutely LOVED the sound of starboy? Every song is unique and complete by itself. My favorite album!

[wiiplaya]

So we’re just gonna skip over My Dear Melancholy? He had a ballad with Call out my name and even a hit with I Was Never There. It feels odd leaving that out

[SteezyKane]

What a masterpiece of a video, the motion graphics, the structuring, the sound design especially on the intro… wow. great job🫡

[jakemcman]

I will never forget the first time I heard the Weeknd back in 2012. Wicked Games had just started blowing up on the radio. Felt like the man was reaching into my soul

[koutoo]

abel literally could just give up on his whole old fanbase in exchange for a mainstream one
man this dude is some sort of magician, he literally brought both mainstream and old fanbases together and still hasn't lost his unique touch, his songs just never decreased their quality but i could even say they got better over time

[sigmamale-smwi]

I don't know why I feel so proud that I found him before he took over the world it's like "your homie made it and you are so proud" moment
XO forever ♾️

[Medusaxo]

I know MDM was short and lacked visuals/storytelling so it’s hard to document and write about, but I wish it at least had a mini segment. The only body of music where I can confidently say there are absolutely no skips. It was raw, dirty, and probably the most vulnerable writing we’ll ever see from him.

Besides that, the production on this one was incredible. Please never stop evolving. You are cementing a new production style that I’m sure will inspire many other creators to put this kind of effort into these docu-essays.

[alexiskimberly]

I’m so upset a lot of people don’t appreciate the Trilogy album. The first song I heard by him was High for this & immediately became obsessed. I remember not even knowing what he looked like at first. Then when kissland dropped I think it really solidified my love for his music, sound, ambiance & story telling. The lore behind this man is insane and it was cool to watch unfold before my eyes in the beginning.

[NagaFTW]

Dissapointed at the fact that My Dear Melancholy was completely wiped out of existence, like the EP doesn't exist. It's one of my favorite EPs of all time and it symbolizes the return of The Weeknd's dark Trilogy aesthetic, but modernized and perfected. An amazing piece of work.

[logarithm]

the weeknd is always evolving; it’s truly been a *privilege* to see him exercise his creativity

[ajtaylor]

I gotta be real with you, Philip: this is the best video you've ever created on your channel. This is a true work of art all around and it tells the Weeknd's story to this point in poignant, detailed fashion. As someone who began listening to his music around the time he dropped Starboy, he quickly grew on me and is now one of my favorite artists maybe ever and "After Hours" is his magnum opus. I listen to that album often but "My Dear Melancholy" is one of my favorite projects he's made and I can't wait to see him evolve even more in the future. The guy's a living legend.

[RollerSkatinActor]

I'm 57 and grew up with old school hip hop and r&b. Every time he comes out with new music I think to myself there is no way that he can top what he's released before and then I am always astounded.

[thegamingxin]

I'm so proud of him. Abel is my icon. I can't believe the amount of struggle he's gone through and his success despite all of that. we all love Abel. XO

[AprylsWRLD]

I've never cried so hard in my life. The Weekend's tale is really encouraging because I experienced a nearly same upbringing as him. I love music, I sing and write, I smoke pot, and this actually made me feel like I could do it too, despite the fact that I came from nothing.

[otinauj]

this is why he’s my favorite artist, the genuine darkness in his music, his haunting and angelic voice, and of course, being an incredible artist. it’s a shame that he’s just known as this “pop star “ and doesn’t get the recognition he deserves (i know he’s the #1 streamed artist on spotify right now) but in my mind he’s still feels so underrated compared to a “ariana grande” to say. I love this man so much. XOTWOD

[johnnydematteis]

in my opinion, after hours and dawn fm are both absolutely genius, masterpieces. Abel is on a whole other level of success, untouchable.

in fact, my ringtone on my phone is "heartless" and i very often let my phone ring and ring and ring just to listen to the song.

[ryze]

its crazy how my mom and Abel's mom were in school together at the time when Echoes of Silence first dropped, and he was getting some buzz here in Toronto but not mainstream yet. All she told me was that her classmate's son is a music artist who worked with drake and I instantly knew "its The Weeknd!?" then she helped me get an autograph from him!