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Theres a whole wing of pop and contemporary R&B that owes a debt tothe Weeknd.
While he once saw himself as somebody in a nobody town, hes now somebody in nearlyeverytown.
He followed it up withKiss Land, a murky, nebulous space that embodies all of his nightmares.
Here, his nihilistic ethos is processed to the point of parody.
I just love that youre dead inside would be a funny lyric if he werent so serious.
It didnt help that the production was often flat and lifeless, or that it had no standout hits.
Still, there were signs of hope.
But even at its best,Kiss Landstill feels like a contrived facsimile of what preceded it.
1 singles the year prior.
On paper, it should have succeeded.
If there were any questions about whether or not he found kinship with MJ, opener D.D.
his take on the King of Pops groupie send-off Dirty Diana put them firmly to rest.
The instrumental is decidedly sinister, and his vocals sound eerily similar to Michaels.
The difference is that MJ always balanced his anger with hope.
Youll find none of that here.
The underlying theme here is one of artistic rebirth.
For the Weeknds supposed swan song, his influences and collaborators are numerous and disparate.
If it is indeed his last LP as the Weeknd, its a fitting though somewhat disappointing end.
Immersive and intoxicating,Thursdayembodies just how good self-destruction can feel.
By now, the Weeknd had racked up enough No.
and Is There Someone Else?
/ Im trying not to lose my faith.
But that songs potential is obvious to anyone with ears; its The Hills that was most surprising.
Its different enough from the initialTrilogythat the uninitiated could be forgiven for thinking it was a new artist altogether.
Its equal parts lecherous and melodic, capturing just a sliver of the thrill of the dangers of self-destruction.
This record served as the publics introduction to the character that is the Weeknd.
WhenHouse of Balloonsdropped, nothing else in R&B sounded like it.
Today, you might hear traces of its DNA all over the pop charts.
Tesfaye could make exactly zero references to getting high, and this music would still sound like drugs.
