Depraved is the one word I would use to describe House of Balloons, which gives us the sounds of an alcohol and drug-fueled bender with your crush on a winter night in Toronto. It was all laid out by a mysterious voice that many of us were able to relate to, even though we didn't know who the fuck we were listening to. At the time of this project's release, no one knew who the Weeknd was or even how he looked. Was he tall? Where was he from? Who was he signed to? It was all a mystery. All we knew was that he was able to tap into the darkest corners of love and lust for nine tracks of pure, unadulterated savagery. When House of Balloons dropped, R&B was struggling to find itself again—most of the mainstream shit used the same formula. The top three songs on the R&B charts in 2011 were Miguel’s “Sure Thing," Kelly Rowland’s “Motivation," and Chris Brown’s “Look At Me Now." None of these songs sounded anything close to what we heard on House of Balloons. This was some super underground shit; it’s like the 36 Chambers of R&B because it shifted the game, ushering in a new wave that still has its fingerprints on the R&B being made today. The mystery surrounding this tape, along with its songwriting and production, is why Abel will probably never be able to top this again. This tape is magic. —Angel Diaz