Though feelings surrounding his recently chopped hairstyle are mixed, one thing is for sure: The Weeknd never fails to create a buzz around his newly released music.
He reveals his complicated and newly adjusted lifestyle as a celebrity in Starboy as he sings about drug use, his night life at strip clubs and explicitly details his sexcapades.
He specifically calls out his fans in the starting track, “Starboy,” as he confesses that he has become a different person due to the influence of fame and prosperity.
“Look what you’ve done!” he cries out as if he wants to put the blame on others for his addictions to cocaine, material items and promiscuous women. The collaboration with Daft Punk on this track creates a funky techno beat that enhances the high-pitched, Michael Jackson-esque vocals.
At this point in his career, the Weeknd sits securely at the top of the hierarchy of the music industry. In “Reminder,” he pokes fun, singing “I just won a new award for a kid show/ talkin’ about numbing a face off a bag of blow/I’m like goddamn bitch, I am not a teen choice.” He exhibits how people who are too young to listen to his explicit material still idolize him.
Tinashe breaks molds, shows true, complicated self in new LP
“Party Monster,” “Rockin’” and “Ordinary Life” centralize around The Weeknd’s excessive partying habits. He acknowledges in “Ordinary Life” that most people will never have similar experiences as him.
He knows he has committed sins, and he says how he knows he is going to die young. This shows that he understands his actions will eventually have consequences, but he would rather live in the moment anyways.
The Weeknd is far from modest when he speaks about his relations with women, including his sexual activity. He does not leave much to the imagination on songs like “All I Know Is This” and “I Feel It Coming.”
In “I Feel It Coming,” again featuring Daft Punk, he talks about a euphoric sexual experience. There is a noticeable distinction between the songs where Daft Punk is featured because they use more electrifying and techno instrumentals. As for the lyrics, he sings the words, “I feel it coming, I feel it coming, babe,” over and over.
I’ll allow you to draw your own conclusions as to what he means by that.
Some of his tracks start to get a little bit redundant when he speaks about strippers and other women he has encountered that have been known to sleep around. We get it
The one track that does stand out thematically from the rest is a collaboration with Kendrick Lamar called “Sidewalks.” Here, both friends are reminiscing on the journeys they have taken in their lives.
The sidewalks they speak of are symbolic: They guided them to follow their own paths of success. Honestly, any verse from Kendrick never fails to impress as his flow is always incredible, and his words are truthful. These two are definitely a duo that has a great amount of musical chemistry.
Though Starboy is a fairly long album, consisting of 18 tracks in total, it is absolutely worth a listen (even if it gets repetitive musically and lyrically). Some songs are perfect for a party pregame, while others are songs you should expect to hear at the club or in the back of a limo.
The Weeknd may not be an ideal role model in terms of what he sings about, but musically and vocally he is definitely someone who young artists can, and should, look up to.
Many attempt to emulate his voice, and he never fails to create quality music with substance. There is no doubt that he will continue to impress his fan base in the near future.
