The Weeknd, a Canadian R&B singer and one of the modern era’s biggest artists, is the fourth most-streamed artist and second-highest monthly listener on Spotify. But currently, he has been on a losing streak with how bad his show, “The Idol” is. He rolled out two singles when his latest album came out in October.
The first single, “Timeless,” features Playboi Carti, a southern trap/cloud rapper. His verse was ok for the most part, except for the part where all of his rapping was AI. This only continues Playboi Carti’s behavior of not caring about his music; he hasn’t released an album for almost seven years. The song overall doesn’t sound like it for The Weeknd, it’s more a track for someone else who just happens to have The Weeknd on it.
The last single is named “São Paulo,” and it is easily the best of the two singles. That’s because it doesn’t sound like anything he has done before. It is sympathetic and electric, sounding like an album by MGMT. The song also features a Brazilian artist, Anitta, who sings in the beginning and throughout the song. I am not going into the lyrics because they are very inappropriate and explicit, and I feel like not getting in trouble with my teacher, so I’m moving to the actual album.
The album was released a week after the singles and overall was better than just the singles. After the intro, the first song of the album, “Cry for Me,” is nothing I have heard from The Weeknd before. It’s electric, fiery, and it got me excited for the rest of the album, just like a good album should. This fiery tone is reflected in the album lyrics as he attacks Drake. The Weeknd, with Future, Metro Boomin, and A$AP Rocky come together to make an album to make fun of Drake before “The Beef” turned into Drake vs Kendrick, which is trash. He says things like, “And they try to (Swear Word) kill me, spreading’ misinformation, tryna paint me a villain” and “Might connect to my father, I don’t know that (person).” At this point, everyone who is shooting their shots at Drake is shooting into a dead body, but they are making sure that he is dead. It’s a good first track and sets the mood for the rest of the album.
The only bad thing I have to say about this album is that after “Timeless,” all the songs start to sound the same and aren’t as strong as the others up to that point. They are still good songs, but those songs made the album bloated. This is similar to the problem with “Donda” by Kayne West, or “Views” by Drake. Both albums are good, but are extremely bloated.
Overall, The Weeknd ends with a bang, and I was surprised by this album, especially after the hit-or-miss singles. The album is 22 songs long, going for one hour and 22 minutes. I would give it an 8/10.
