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Disclaimer: This post details my longstanding infatuation and curiosity with the artist "The Weeknd" but ONLY from the year 2011 as a seperate entity, and not that thique' nigga who sings about Lesbians over electropop beats.



I am just someone who has become completely awe struck with this nigga the second I heard him in 2011 (no homo)...but ever since then I've been pondering... trying to rationalize how the **** he pulled it off. This **** is destroying my mind If you are a weeknd fan, please feel free to chime in



In this post I am just trying to dissect how it all came together, but seeing how his music and his personal life are so interconnected, this forces me to look at both the music and the artist as closely in relation to each other as possible.



THE MUSIC:



His singular contribution to music (House of Balloons) during this year is the most brilliant, earth-shattering exhibition of artistry and technical mastery I have ever witnessed in my entire life.

I have broken down three well created aspects of this project that made it such an acclaimed mixtape upon release. His vocals, his songwriting and production (these may seem like the components of any album but let me break it down for you.)



Vocals : It's simple, The weeknd's vocals are a rare anatomical occurrence that allows his voice to foster both light and dark timbres, whilst having the carrying power of a baritone or bass. His mixed voice is what you hear for the majority of the mixtape and yet it sounds as if his voice never switches gears when going from his high to low range. His singing style is specifically unique in western standards of music since he combines Eastern world and African influences into his intonation and note choices. To put it short, western music only implements notes from the more common scales and modes, whereas music from other countries use a different palate of microtonal notes to make their music sound distinct and "exotic". Take this Ethiopian artist or example, singing in Amharic (The weeknd's native tongue ):



Notice how she glides over the song with her voice in a fashion that is not too common in western music. Not only does he have this influence in his arsenal, he pairs it with heavy American R&B stylings of R.Kelly (a style that's all about niggas SINGING singing) which births his very own style of singing that allows him to introduce a barrage of unique & other worldly notes into his words while simultaneously maximizing his vocal expression by stretching out every syllable ŗ la R.Kelly (lock that nigga up lol)





Songwriting : It's a known fact that the weeknd had been writing demos from early on, and that meant he had concrete grounds of penning a solid song on his own. However, he was creating well structured pop songs to accommodate that of a commercially viable artist with no extreme vices (think Mario or NE-YO) and not for himself, which was completely dissonant to his lifestyle at the time. I'm not so sure if Jeremy Rose helped contribute to his subject matter, but as he grew older and his circumstances grew darker (High School Dropout with no prospects of a successful future...YIKES) his experiences lent themselves to give him a more raw and stoic outlook on life which in turn affected his songwriting. Yes, I know this nigga sings about his conquests of destroying that Ivory Punani on top of the mountains of Toronto's finest deluxe sugar, but what's so unprecedented about this particular style of vulgarity in songwriting is that Abel combined his previous skills as a rapper(Kin Kane) and a popsong D-writer to present unfiltered introspection & mental imagery of high octane debauchery with the crudeness of a hip hop artist, the grace of an R&B singer and the efficiency & brevity of a seasoned song writer. Consuming ideas as intense as these in a pop/R&B song was unheard of (even if it was, it never sounded this), yet Abel's pen bridged the gap and created an entirely new genre.





Production : The unrivaled production on this album is brought to you in part by Doc Mckinney, Jeremy Rose and Illangelo. The production that came from these three makes for the glue that holds this album together, it is simply incomplete w/o the Weeknd's vocals and vice versa. The Dream pop samples completely took me from left field, because I don't know about you, but when I listen to Guitars with some shoegaze peddles, i'm preparing to hear some white **** sing about falling in love with some Ted Kracynzki ass dude, not this Nigga bragging about how he's balling during an early life crisis. I've picked up on the fact that Doc uses specific techniques as an industry grade producer to make the songs sound as polished and seamless as possible, which gives it that timeless quality and makes it an easy listen upon first playback. To demonstrate, The Party and the After Party:



(my favorite song of all the time) starts off with Abel singing on the DOWNBEAT in the Key Signature of F Minor (the Key Signature of the Master of none by Beach House is in F major....nigga wtf) of the sample track, which if you haven't noticed, allows that nigga to ride the beat like the **** that is riding his **** in the chorus of the song. Not only that, but Doc has Abel's vocals placed all the way on top of the mix, and adds a certain filter to it which puts his voice at the forefront of the song and makes the beauty that is his voice clear as ****. Through out the entirety of the album, the producers showcase their sound mixing/engineering prowess by masterfully manipulating the cacophony of reverb, autotune,echo and delay on the mix (These niggas must've had hella Phantom Power). The Aaliyah samples, the lofty bass, the offbeat vocal grooves...they are all deliberate and technically intricate techniques that make HOUSE OF BALLOONS what it is.



The ARTIST HIMSELF:



Now I just want to take deep dive on the nigga who is behind this masterpiece. Who is he? What the actual **** made him capable of making an album of such depth and nuance, capable of dispelling the most obscene truths in a fashion that is almost...intrinsic????



How does THIS Cabbage patch ass, Barney resembling ass, Ethiopian Christian Church Youth Group ass nigga



become a man who possesses the indomitable poise required to pull of a project like HOUSE OF BALLOONS? HUH??





Well I already know the origin of bro ass but I wanted to know the environmental factors that played into creating this unique, less than 1% naturally occurring individual. I figured that 65 Spencer in Parkdale (the house that he moved to or frequented after moving out of his own home) was situated in a unique area of Toronto. I looked up Parkdale, and if this was in fact where The Weeknd spent his time during the genesis of HOUSE OF BALLOONS, then it would explain a lot. This area of Toronto was mainly inhabited by the likes of artsy, eclectic and alternative 20 somethings, an area that belonged to bohemian types such as Abel. The way this must've played out was that, Abel ,already with the goal of becoming a musician, moved in with his friend and now XO associate Hyghly Alleyne who was already situated in those parts of town. Eventually a young Abel familiarized himself with people who were on the same mission (Joey Stylez...SHESOLOVELY) and went through the motions of being a scraggler in the most hipster ass parts of town. Case in point:



These experiences not only enriched his view of the city & himself, but they also cultivated an appreciation of the metropolitan alternative taste pallate (and white ****). He was also making rounds with his in house amatuer music group, giving him proper connections to pros like Doc Mckinney and Jeremy Rose. A part of me wants to give all the credit to Jeremy Rose, since his idea is the foundation of this man's artistic career, but what is an idea without executution? Would there ever be a weeknd worth listening to without Jeremy Rose? This **** is killing me bruh help









This post details my longstanding infatuation and curiosity with the artist "The Weeknd" butfrom the year 2011 as a seperate entity, and not that thique' nigga who sings about Lesbians over electropop beats.I am just someone who has become completely awe struck with this nigga the second I heard him in 2011 (no homo)...but ever since then I've been pondering... trying to rationalize how the **** he pulled it off. This **** is destroying my mind If you are a weeknd fan, please feel free to chime inIn this post I am just trying to dissect how it all came together, but seeing how his music and his personal life are so interconnected, this forces me to look at both the music and the artist as closely in relation to each other as possible.His singular contribution to music (House of Balloons) during this year is the most brilliant, earth-shattering exhibition of artistry and technical mastery I have ever witnessed in my entire life.I have broken down three well created aspects of this project that made it such an acclaimed mixtape upon release. His vocals, his songwriting and production (these may seem like the components of any album but let me break it down for you.): It's simple, The weeknd's vocals are a rare anatomical occurrence that allows his voice to foster both light and dark timbres, whilst having the carrying power of a baritone or bass. His mixed voice is what you hear for the majority of the mixtape and yet it sounds as if his voice never switches gears when going from his high to low range. His singing style is specifically unique in western standards of music since he combines Eastern world and African influences into his intonation and note choices. To put it short, western music only implements notes from the more common scales and modes, whereas music from other countries use a different palate of microtonal notes to make their music sound distinct and "exotic". Take this Ethiopian artist or example, singing in Amharic (The weeknd's native tongue ):Notice how she glides over the song with her voice in a fashion that is not too common in western music. Not only does he have this influence in his arsenal, he pairs it with heavy American R&B stylings of R.Kelly (a style that's all about niggas SINGING singing) which births his very own style of singing that allows him to introduce a barrage of unique & other worldly notes into his words while simultaneously maximizing his vocal expression by stretching out every syllable ŗ la R.Kelly (lock that nigga up lol): It's a known fact that the weeknd had been writing demos from early on, and that meant he had concrete grounds of penning a solid song on his own. However, he was creating well structured pop songs to accommodate that of a commercially viable artist with no extreme vices (think Mario or NE-YO) and not for himself, which was completely dissonant to his lifestyle at the time. I'm not so sure if Jeremy Rose helped contribute to his subject matter, but as he grew older and his circumstances grew darker (High School Dropout with no prospects of a successful future...YIKES) his experiences lent themselves to give him a more raw and stoic outlook on life which in turn affected his songwriting. Yes, I know this nigga sings about his conquests of destroying that Ivory Punani on top of the mountains of Toronto's finest deluxe sugar, but what's so unprecedented about this particular style of vulgarity in songwriting is that Abel combined his previous skills as a rapper(Kin Kane) and a popsong D-writer to present unfiltered introspection & mental imagery of high octane debauchery with the crudeness of a hip hop artist, the grace of an R&B singer and the efficiency & brevity of a seasoned song writer. Consuming ideas as intense as these in a pop/R&B song was unheard of (even if it was, it never sounded this), yet Abel's pen bridged the gap and created an entirely new genre.: The unrivaled production on this album is brought to you in part by Doc Mckinney, Jeremy Rose and Illangelo. The production that came from these three makes for the glue that holds this album together, it is simply incomplete w/o the Weeknd's vocals and vice versa. The Dream pop samples completely took me from left field, because I don't know about you, but when I listen to Guitars with some shoegaze peddles, i'm preparing to hear some white **** sing about falling in love with some Ted Kracynzki ass dude, not this Nigga bragging about how he's balling during an early life crisis. I've picked up on the fact that Doc uses specific techniques as an industry grade producer to make the songs sound as polished and seamless as possible, which gives it that timeless quality and makes it an easy listen upon first playback. To demonstrate, The Party and the After Party:(my favorite song of all the time) starts off with Abel singing on the DOWNBEAT in the Key Signature of F Minor (the Key Signature of the Master of none by Beach House is in F major....nigga wtf) of the sample track, which if you haven't noticed, allows that nigga to ride the beat like the **** that is riding his **** in the chorus of the song. Not only that, but Doc has Abel's vocals placed all the way on top of the mix, and adds a certain filter to it which puts his voice at the forefront of the song and makes the beauty that is his voice clear as ****. Through out the entirety of the album, the producers showcase their sound mixing/engineering prowess by masterfully manipulating the cacophony of reverb, autotune,echo and delay on the mix (These niggas must've had hella Phantom Power). The Aaliyah samples, the lofty bass, the offbeat vocal grooves...they are all deliberate and technically intricate techniques that make HOUSE OF BALLOONS what it is.Now I just want to take deep dive on the nigga who is behind this masterpiece.Who is he? What the actual **** made him capable of making an album of such depth and nuance, capable of dispelling the most obscene truths in a fashion that is almost...intrinsic????How does THIS Cabbage patch ass, Barney resembling ass, Ethiopian Christian Church Youth Group ass niggabecome a man who possesses the indomitable poise required to pull of a project like HOUSE OF BALLOONS? HUH??Well I already know the origin of bro ass but I wanted to know the environmental factors that played into creating this unique, less than 1% naturally occurring individual. I figured that 65 Spencer in Parkdale (the house that he moved to or frequented after moving out of his own home) was situated in a unique area of Toronto. I looked up Parkdale, and if this was in fact where The Weeknd spent his time during the genesis of HOUSE OF BALLOONS, then it would explain a lot. This area of Toronto was mainly inhabited by the likes of artsy, eclectic and alternative 20 somethings, an area that belonged to bohemian types such as Abel. The way this must've played out was that, Abel ,already with the goal of becoming a musician, moved in with his friend and now XO associate Hyghly Alleyne who was already situated in those parts of town. Eventually a young Abel familiarized himself with people who were on the same mission (Joey Stylez...SHESOLOVELY) and went through the motions of being a scraggler in the most hipster ass parts of town. Case in point:These experiences not only enriched his view of the city & himself, but they also cultivated an appreciation of the metropolitan alternative taste pallate (and white ****). He was also making rounds with his in house amatuer music group, giving him proper connections to pros like Doc Mckinney and Jeremy Rose. A part of me wants to give all the credit to Jeremy Rose, since his idea is the foundation of this man's artistic career, but what is an idea without executution? Would there ever be a weeknd worth listening to without Jeremy Rose? This **** is killing me bruh help