Welcome to the OT. This is...a HAPPY HOUSE
Who is The Weeknd?
The Weeknd was born Abel Makkonen Tesfaye on 2/16/1990. He started from very humble beginnings, but from 2015 onward he has become a superstar. With the success of After Hours and Blinding Lights, he has become one of the biggest superstars in the world. His music originated as dark R&B, but his versatility in talent brought him not just into the world of pop but new wave and synth as well. The purpose of this OT is to encompass all music, news, and general discussion on topics for everything XO.
Chapter 1
Part 1: House of Balloons 3/21/2011
House of Balloons is the debut mixtape and official body of work by The Weeknd. Other than this being his most original sound, in my opinion, House of Balloons is also The Weeknd at his most essential artistry. This mixtape is full of dark R&B with suggestive and depressing auras. It is often said that Abel was practically homeless when recording these (HoB is the first of three) mixtapes. Nevertheless, the House of Balloons is a real place, Abel revealed. 65 Spencer Ave in Toronto. I was there. Abel himself has gone back there a few times, for example in the photo above in the OP for a future music video.
Several of the tracks were produced by Jeremy Rose, who claims to have thought of the stage name "The Weeknd," however, he and Abel unfortunately had a falling out. Abel also stated that his stage name came from the event of he and his best friend La Mar C. Taylor dropping out of high school, putting their mattresses in a van, leaving home one weekend and never coming back. It was during the production of this mixtape when The Weeknd's music caught the attention of Oliver El-Khatib, Drake's manager, who posted some of Abel's songs on his blog. This began bringing him some notoriety.
HoB was later remastered a year after its release, but 2021 was its 10 year anniversary. To celebrate it, The Weeknd launched HoB in its original, unmastered vintage sound onto all music streaming platforms. This rerelease was a bigger deal than just having the songs in their original audial form. Certain samples that were removed in the remastered versions are restored in this rerelease. These include a sample of Aaliyah's "Rock the Boat" on "What You Need" and an audio clip from Fate/stay night in "Coming Down." Up until this year, the original songs were available on Abel's previous YouTube channel - what this OT is named after, xoxxxoooxo which was later merged with his Vevo account.
Fun fact: Before HoB, there was another project that was being worked on that ended up being unreleased known as The Noise. Another fun fact: even before The Noise, Abel was going by Kin Kane as a potential stage name.
My personal favorite: "Wicked Games"
Runner up: "Coming Down"
Part 2: Thursday 8/18/2011
Thursday is the followup mixtape to House of Balloons, and was his most experimental sounding project if I may say so. Unlike its predecessor which had more than a few producers, Thursday was produced entirely by Illangelo and Don McKinney, both of whom went on to become long term collaborators with The Weeknd. Illangelo even produced a few songs on After Hours. Though this mixtape sonically is quite different from HoB, the dark tone remains consistent throughout. While drugs, sex, and subconscious depression are themes of these mixtapes, from listening to each I would say HoB makes me think most of his depressive side, Thursday makes me think the most of his drug experiences, and the third mixtape feels like the most to do with sex. The title of this mixtape is also why I'm making this OT today (originally posted on a Thursday). Similarly to its predecessor's 10th anniversary, Thursday was officially rereleased as well.
Thursday does include a feature, who is none other than Drake himself on "The Zone." Through his work and friendship with Drake, Abel said that he had given "half" of what otherwise should have been on his first mixtape, to Drake, who then made the tracks his own on his sophomore album Take Care. Their friendship has been on and off throughout the years and quite honestly I'm not even sure if they are on good terms at the moment.
My personal favorite: "Life of the Party"
Runner up: "Lonely Star"
Part 3: Echos of Silence 12/21/2011
The final mixtape released as part of the Balloons Trilogy was Echos of Silence in December of the same year. As stated previously, while the themes and tone remain consistent throughout the trilogy, Echos of Silence feels the most to do with sex. But that's not to say that his mixtape still doesn't have has plenty, plenty, plenty to do with his depressive and high side as well. All of them do. From my perspective, along with being more sex-oriented, EoS also pushes the most "pop" out of the trilogy while Thursday was the most experimental and HoB was alternative R&B. While EoB continues the trend of dark R&B as well, the opening track is a cover of "Dirty Diana," one of Abel's favorite songs by Michael Jackson. He has repeatedly stated that MJ is his biggest influence, and the artist himself has often been compared to the late king of pop. This mixtape is still The Weeknd as essential; there is even a song titled "XO" (the first half of it).
While there aren't any direct features on this mixtape, rapper Juicy J from Three 6 Mafia is included on the outro/interlude of "Same Old Song."
My personal favorite: "Same Old Song"
Runner up: "XO/The Host"
Part 4: Trilogy 11/13/2012
In September of the following year, Abel signed a record deal with Republic Records, who remastered and compiled all three of his mixtapes and rereleased them as Trilogy. The compilation album has since been certified 3x platinum by the RIAA. Each project included had a new bonus song attached. On HoB, track 10 is "Twenty Eight," on Thursday track 10 is "Valerie," and on EoS track 10 is "Here Comes the Sun." Out of the three bonus tracks, Valerie is probably my favorite.
Overall, chapter 1 of The Weeknd's legacy is him at his most raw, personal self. This was him singing before the fame, the stardom, and the superstardom. The soul he sings with his lyrics can make the listener feel the emotion he's experiencing as the inspiration of the song he's performing. There is a reason hardcore fans always say that this is where he peaked.
Now for some odd reason, Abel has decided to remove Trilogy the remastered version from some streaming services since he believes all of the songs should now only be heard in their vintage forms. I think Trilogy still remains on Apple Music, but on Spotify it is only available as the censored version.
Chapter 2: Kiss Land 9/10/2013
Kiss Land is The Weeknd's debut studio album. Although the production was now elevated to studio album quality, this album was unfortunately largely overlooked, relatively speaking. However, up until the release of After Hours, Kiss Land felt like the only album Abel released while maintaining the essence of his sound and artistry. Abel himself compares the album to a horror movie, but I find Kiss Land to be a very personal album as well as in the story he tells. In fact, it may be that Kiss Land as a reflection of Trilogy but as a studio album to be the reason why it was not a commercial breakthrough. However, on August 10 2020, nearly 7 years after the debut, Kiss Land ended up on #1 on iTunes. Regardless of its commercial performance however, Kiss Land as a body of work felt like Abel's introduction to the taste in the life of fame. Because of its production and third verse, the title track in my opinion is in his top 3 greatest records of all time. Abel also went on record to say this might be the only album he could make a sequel to.
Similarly to Thursday, Kiss Land's sole guest is Drake on "Live For." However, the iTunes bonus tracks included a remix of "Wanderlust" featuring Pharrell Williams, and "Odd Look" with Kavinsky.
My personal favorite: "Adaptation"
Runner up: "The Town"
Chapter 3: Beauty Behind the Madness 8/28/2015
2 years later came Beauty Behind the Madness, which definitely was his commercial breakthrough. Three singles released were in the Billboard top 10, two of which went #1 hits. After the release of Kiss Land, Beauty Madness is Abel experiencing the life of stardom and superstardom and previously getting the taste of it, and the new experiences the life has brought him. It is on this album that I think his all time best record exists, "The Hills," although overall on repeated listens I would say this album is the least best project in his discography.
He collaborated with several high profile musicians on this album; Labrinth on "Losers," Ed Sheeran on "Dark Times," and Lana Del Ray on "Prisoner."
The Japanese version of the album includes three bonus tracks, a remix of "Can't Feel My Face" with Martin Garrix, and both individual remixes of "The Hills" with Nicki Minaj and Eminem.
He also had a signature look in this era woth his freeform dreadlocks which he continued growing from his Kiss Land era.
My personal favorite: "The Hills"
Runner-up: "Tell Your Friends"
Chapter 4: Starboy 11/25/2016
Roughly a year after the release of Beauty Madness, The Weeknd released his third studio album, Starboy. From the title track alone, we can easily tell that this album is all about the braggadocious lifestyle. Having experiencing and continuing living in the life of superstardom, he is reflecting back on it. The life of superstardom is a world he's accustomed to and grown used to, and he tells the story of how he fits in it. When the album first released I rejected because of how much pop oriented he became, but the album has grown me a lot since then and I appreciate it much more. Beauty Madness may have had just as much pop music, but the output in Starboy sounds more inspired. This also shows in a great manner how versatile The Weeknd is as a musician and how he reinvents himself with every release. ALL of the songs on this album charted on Billboard.
There are a variety of collaborations on this album; Daft Punk is featured on the intro/title track "Starboy" and on the closing track "I Feel it Coming," Lana Del Ray can be found once again on a song with The Weeknd singing "Stargirl Interlude" (as well as on "Party Monster," except uncredited) one of the greatest rappers of all time, Kendrick Lamar lays a verse on "Sidewalks," and rapper Future is featured on the other reference in the OT, "All I Know" (also in "Six Feet Under," except uncredited). Target's version of Starboy includes one bonus track, a remix of Starboy by Kygo.
Update 4/17/2024...ever since I guess around 2021 when I started playing Persona 5R a lot and then listened to Starboy again on a long road trip to Massachusetts, when Rockin' came on I started hearing it and thought to myself, "this sounds so much like Persona 5!"
So I suppose since then, Rockin' has become my new favorite song on Starboy.
My personal favorite: "Rockin"
Runner-up: "Ordinary Life"
Chapter 5: My Dear Melancholy, 3/30/2018
His first EP, My Dear Melancholy, was described by outlets as sort of a return to form of his darker self from the Trilogy era. To me, MDM is kind of like a midquel between the stories in his releases. Although I enjoyed the depressing sound to MDM, Abel was very specific with this project. For example, compare "Wicked Games" from HoB to "I was Never There," and tone wise the songs may be similar but one of the many differences is that the former has total ambiguity over the lover he's crooning about, whereas with the latter and the EP overall, everyone knows who he's singing about (his ex-girlfriend Selena Gomez, while one particular track, "Wasted Times" may be about his other ex-girlfriend Bella Hadid).
There aren't really any features on the EP, but Spotify's version of the album includes the a cappella of "Call Out My Name."
My personal favorite: "I was Never There"
Runner-up: "Wasted Times"
Chapter 6: After Hours 3/20/2020
As stated previously, My Dear Melancholy, feels like a midquel in the stories he tells from project to project. If a listener goes from Starboy straight to After Hours, thematically they won't miss a beat (but still would miss out on an important chapter of his life in superstardom...heartbreak). In my opinion, this album was Abel's real return to form. I felt this way the most on "Escape from L.A." After all he has gone through since Starboy, Abel has grown so used to the life of a superstar. Now he takes some time to remember that superstardom may be where is now, but thinks about the hard knock life he had to work through and how different he was before. As such, I find After Hours to be a very personal album, much like Kiss Land. Although it is not a direct sequel like he once said he could do, but it sounds very much like it is a spiritual successor.
"Blinding Lights" is not only the most successful record of his entire career, but it is one of the biggest records of all time. Despite how much pop sound there is After Hours, this is his most return to form he has had since his beginnings as a singer. Similarly to Kiss Land, I think the title track of his album is one of his best songs ever made. All of this in conclusion makes me toss up which of his albums is his best; it is either Kiss Land or After Hours for me, and most of the time I still go with Kiss Land.
Each chapter released is a journey. From 2020 to almost a decade in the past, "Snowchild" feels like a sequel to "Reminder" which feels like a sequel to "Tell Your Friends" which feels like a sequel to "Rolling Stone." And the most amazing part of all of this is, I don't think he has even hit his prime yet. Beauty Madness had hits, Starboy's hits topped those, and After Hours has gotten him to the most mainstream he has ever been. I believe there is much more to come. With his fallout with the Recording Academy, I believe he has the power to transform the music industry - and for the better.
My personal favorite: "Escape from L.A"
Runner-up: "Snowchild"
Chapter 7: Dawn FM 1/7/2022
Released about two years after After Hours, Dawn FM is Abel's seventh studio album. This project is different from his previous ones, for being a concept album. Abel has also once tweeted suggesting to his fan base that they are experiencing a new trilogy. After Hours would then be the first part, and based on how he would often tease "the dawn is coming..." before this album released, that would make Dawn FM part two. Thematically as the name suggests, this album is allegorically about a light appearing after a period of darkness. Jim Carrey virtually guest stars as the host of the Dawn FM radio station. Abel is also an actor and a cinephile so it's no surprise that he'd bring in a legendary actor into a musical project, but a YouTube video could suggest why Abel chose him to be that actor.
The artwork and several music videos features him in old age. In the music video for Gasoline, he is basically beating up his old self, rejecting inevitability and continuing to embrace his usual, hedonistic self and lifestyle. Birth and rebirth seems to be another allegory, going by the music video for How Do I Make You Love Me. Some people have speculated that Afterlife will be the title of the third album in the new trilogy based on the lyrics in Every Angel is Terrifying, and some have speculated the title to be Heaven or Las Vegas based on another tweet from him.
Either way, based on an interview with W Magazine about exactly a year ago in 2023, whatever his next album will be may very well be his last with the stage name, The Weeknd. Some folks have interpreted his words to be that he's just gonna retire completely, but I take it to mean that two albums from now, he will be making music under his real name, Abel Tesfaye.
It's hard for me to say what my favorite songs are on this album since it's so different from all of his other albums. Sonically it's similar to After Hours with its emphasis on synth-pop, and even though that was what made After Hours propelled into having the track with the most successful record of Abel's career (Blinding Lights), I still mostly prefer the music with his dark R&B side. The only legacy producer he has on this album is DaHeala.
In addition to Jim Carrey, other features on this album include Lil Wayne, Tyler the Creator, as well as Agents of Time and Swedish House Mafia. The latter two were on the "Alternate World" special edition.
My personal favorite: "Best Friend"
Runner-up: "Gasoline"
Supplemental: The Idol soundtrack 6/3/2023 - 7/13/2023
Last year, Abel collaborated with Sam Levinson who was the creator of the hit show on HBO, Euphoria to create another TV show, The Idol starring Lily Rose-Depp. Fun fact: The Idol takes place in the same universe as Euphoria. I don't think Abel counts the soundtrack of the show as a chapter in his body of work, but since he is the executive producer of it then I believe he deserves the most credit for it; it is like the equivalent of counting the soundtrack of 8 Mile as one of Eminem's major projects. The Idol has been canceled by HBO, however all of the songs are available on streaming services.
Instead of releasing it as one full body of work, Abel decided to release songs episode by episode. Since there were five episodes, there were five separate official releases for the songs.
My personal favorite: "Double Fantasy"
Runner-up: "False Idols" featuring Lil Baby and Suzanna Son
What is XO?
XO is first and foremost, The Weeknd's brand. It is the imprint record label he founded with La Mar, with Cash as his manager and Sal as the CEO. Three other artists are currently signed to XO, and they are Nav, Belly, and Black Atlass. Nav also serves as an in-house producer for XO.
Back when Drake and The Weeknd were frequent collaborators, their music together was collectively referred to as OVOXO. Drake has a line directing to this "The Zone." While society has often toted XO to mean "kisses and hugs," in The Weeknd's case it may means ecstasy and oxycontin, two of his favorite drugs to take recreationally.
My top 3 all-time favorite songs:
1. "King of the Fall"
2. "The Hills"
3. "Wicked Games"
My top 5 ranking of The Weeknd songs (probably subject to change):
1. "The Hills"
2. "Wicked Games"
3. "Kiss Land"
4. "After Hours"
5. "XO/The Host"
There is further content that can be packed into this OT. Let us know if you want more!
Update: 4/17/2024 finally updated the OP to include information about Dawn FM, and The Idol!
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