Born on February 16, 1990, In Toronto, Canada, Abel Makkonen Tesfaye, otherwise known as The Weeknd (pronounced “weekend”), has recently become a huge R&B music sensation. In the beginning of his career, no one knew about him. Between 2010 and 2011, his career took flight. Creating a few singles “What you need”, “The Morning”, and my personal favorite, “Loft Music” anonymously under the name “The Weeknd,” he slowly began getting attention from loyal fans, like myself, that have stuck with his music since. Also, he is affiliated by a group known as XO.

I can remember my very first time listening to him: My brother had just got his license (three years ago) and he asked me to go for a drive with him because he wanted to show me this new artist he had discovered. I happily obliged and got in. He played Abel’s “Wicked Games” off of his album The Trilogy. From then on I couldn’t get enough.  From my experience, most people I have asked in the past that listen to The Weeknd (before his big break in the last year) had also started off listening to Wicked Games. It consumes you and you go into a stage of awe. In correctly portrays the rest of his music on his first album. While each of his albums have been remarkably different, each has its own Abel-like fingerprint.

Abel has three different albums. First was a compilation of three of his successful mixtapes that combined was 30 songs which was named The Trilogy. The Trilogy is made up by mixtapes House of Balloons, Thursday, and Echoes of Silence. When released, only 500 vinyl copies were released worldwide for the already expensive price of $200. Now that his career has taken off, the lowest you can find it for is $999.50 on Amazon. Each of the 6 discs is signed and numbered by Abel himself. Personally, if I had the money, I would purchase it in a heartbeat.

Secondly was his album Kiss Land. Released in 2013, Kiss Land has 10 songs like Tears in the Rain and Live for which features Drake himself. Unlike the Trilogy, I do own the vinyl to this album and it sounds so incredible. His voice is unlike anything I have ever heard before. It is pure magic. He also toured for Kiss Land but I was sadly unable to attend due to the closest show being in Chicago.

Lastly is his much awaited album: Beauty Behind the Madness. The build up to the album release August 28th was immense. He would drop small hints or videos here and there to lead everyone on including an 18-minute leak that he tweeted himself that on its own caused a huge uproar. The day of the release was very exciting and rose up to meet my already very high expectations.

One more thing is the question: Why is his name The Weeknd? Where is the “e”? And me being as infatuated with him as I am, I did my research. The best explanation that I could find was that the word “weekend” lines up directly with the days of the week. The “e” lines up directly with Thursday. As you might remember from before, Thursday is the name of one of his albums as well as a song. Also if you listen to his music, Thursday is mentioned multiple times in multiple of his songs. The tale is that he got his heartbroken on a thursday which influenced his music in many different ways. A heartbreak would definitely explain the mellow or sad vibe that much of his music in both The Trilogy and Kiss Land give off. He definitely portrays much of his emotions in his music making it more personal and close to his and your own heart.

The way he carries himself is truly incredible. Through the fame, he has only grown to be an all around better artist. He has even claimed to hate performing and being uncomfortable with his own voice which strongly shows in some of his performances. I am telling you, he is an artist to invest your time into. While R&B isn’t for everyone, his music has a little something for everyone. My favorite songs of his have to be Rolling Stone, D.D. (Dirty Diana), Pretty, and Angel. Not to mention the remix of Trust Issues with Drake. Go on youtube and look up Trust Issues with The Weeknd and Drake (should have purple, black, and white cover art), put in your earbuds, and let it carry you away.