The Weeknd

The Weeknd. Abel Tesfaye performing on stage in picture above.

Abel Tesfaye is a single person band who likes to go by the name of “The Weeknd” pronounced “The Weekend.” The odd spelling of his title The Weeknd, noticeably spelled without an “e”, was to avoid copyright issues with another fellow Canadian band whose name was spelled similarly. Tesfaye was discovered on YouTube, where the talented musician posted mixtapes and several other handwritten songs including: House of Balloons and Echoes of Silence.

Before he became famous, Tesfaye was born in Ethiopia. His parents decided to migrate to Canada in the late 1980s, though their reason’s why are unknown. Tesfaye had a normal childhood and grew up interested in the genres his grandmother had introduced to him, such as: soul, quiet storm, hip-hop, funk, indie rock, and post-punk. Tesfaye has come a long way with his music and melodic beats. During his U.S tour in April 2012, Tesfaye performed at the Coachella Festival, which was a success. Due to this, Tesfaye was able to travel to New York where he performed two sold-out shows that were positively reviewed by Rolling Stone magazine.

One amazing show after another, Tesfaye was soon performing within several European cities that were related to the Primavera sound festivals held within Spain and Portugal. Most people learned of Tesfaye and his smooth music from the soundtrack for the movie The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. Tesfaye contributed a song called “Devil May Cry” he was also featured on a hit single “Elastic Heart” by Sia, which was the second single from the soundtrack. But not only has he been discovered through a soundtrack, he has also collaborated with several artists within the music industry, including: ScHoolboy Q, Jhene Aiko, Ariana Grande, and Beyoncé.

Tesfaye is a successful artist whose new album “Beauty behind the madness” has sold over two million copies in just a few days after its release date on August 28. He uses so many unique sounds within his songs that his music is categorized underneath the trending genre of PBR&B: a sub-genre of Indie R&B (rhythm and blues), Hipster R&B, and Alternative R&B. Tesfaye has pulled many music lovers of rap and musical synthesizers into his music, which most of his listeners would agree creates the perfect ambiance. His music can be found on iTunes for listeners with iPods or iPhones, or if you are interested in owning a CD copy of The Weeknd’s music, it can be found in stores such as Target, Macy’s, Kmart and Walmart.

It cannot be denied that Tesfaye is the most featured artist within the music industry because of how exclusive his harmonizing music can be. And thanks to the creativity he devotes to his work, people who have access to his beats can enjoy over five minutes or less of a soul chilling melody that is topped by a beautiful voice.