The Weeknd
I want to make pop cool again, and the only way I can do that is by being ambitious and grand.Collection: Cool
I feel like the way I was raised was to be able to see through all the titles in this world - from religion to race.Collection: Religion
I was very camera shy. People like hot girls, so I put my music to hot girls and it just became a trend. The whole 'enigmatic artist' thing, I just ran with it. No one could find pictures of me.Collection: Music
When people meet me, they say that I'm really kind - contrary to a lot of my music.Collection: Music
My purpose is to make exciting music, and I feel like I'll be doing that for the rest of my life, so there's no pressure.Collection: Music
Going home helps the content.Collection: Home
I always hated how I looked on camera. I never put a face to my music, which actually made the music that much more mysterious.Collection: Music
Prince turned experimental music into pop music. 'When Doves Cry,' the whole 'Purple Rain' soundtrack - he was inspired by the Cocteau Twins and new wave pop and brought it into R&B when he first started, and then it became this cool, next-level, kind of hard-to-digest music. Which is what I felt 'House of Balloons' was.Collection: Cool
Once you've changed who you are or who you've portrayed in your music, the fans, they'll catch it... Once I feel like the world knows me for anything else but my music, then I feel like I failed.Collection: Music
The mind of a 19-year-old is very different from the mind of a 26-year-old. You grow. You get into better relationships. You experience more, meet more people, better people. But when you're in a dark hole at an earlier point in your life - you write about the mindset you're in at that moment.Collection: Experience
I mean... in life... what relationship is easy?Collection: Relationship
Nothing is stopping me from doing what I love to do.Collection: Love
For the chorus of 'Secrets,' we used The Romantics' 'Talking in Your Sleep' and 'Pale Shelter' by Tears for Fears. It's like hip-hop: just grab it.Collection: Romantic
The Joker is my favorite villain of all time: You don't know his past; you just know what his plans are.Collection: Time
For me, bomber jackets are smart, but they are also street and have a lot of attitude.Collection: Attitude
Marriage is scary to me, man.Collection: Marriage
Let's be honest. Canada wasn't ever cool.Collection: Cool
I couldn't ever go back home without being something. I probably would never have gone back home. That was definitely a big motivation. To get back home, and not empty-handed.Collection: Home
The last thing you want is to not be recognized for all of the hard work you put in.Collection: Work
The game is changing with songs like 'Earned It' as opposed to it changing me.
I spend just as much time on how people hear my music as I do the actual music, no matter how long it takes. I'm such a visual artist as well that it always goes hand-in-hand.
I want to produce the music to a movie that I'm working on, like what Prince did with 'Purple Rain.'
I didn't have a father figure in the house.
I wanted to drop three albums in a year because no one had done it. It was bold, unheard of.
'Kiss Land' wasn't about what people wanted to hear on the radio. It was the state of mind I was in - introverted, like David Cronenberg's 'Naked Lunch.' You didn't know if you were hearing a chorus or a verse. It was just my thoughts.
I've grown accustomed to hotels and drastic climate change.
I was 14, and I fell in love with Pink Floyd.
The vibe on 'Starboy' comes from that hip-hop culture of braggadocio, from Wu-Tang and 50 Cent, the kind of music I listened to as a kid.
A chorus is not easy.
The Internet, man, is a beautiful thing.
The whole 'enigmatic artist' thing, I just ran with it.
Nothing feels better than going onstage and everybody is singing every word - and actually wanting to see you.
'Trilogy' was more of a claustrophobic body of work. Before it was released, I hadn't left my city for 21 years, and I had never been on a plane, not once. I spent my entire life on one setting; that's probably why pieces of the album feel like one long track, because that's what my life felt like. It felt like one long song.
Image, lyrics, content, storytelling, cohesive body of work - that's Prince to me.
Alternative R&B is in my soul. It's not going anywhere.
I feel like I'm the kind of guy that would have kids before getting married. The first thing would be kids.
When I was performing the songs on 'Kiss Land,' it was a great singalong. But there were moments where I realized some parts were catchier than the others. There's maybe two choruses on all of 'Kiss Land.'
I sang a lot of low stuff on songs like 'Secrets' and 'Rockin',' almost like Toni Braxton. On 'Secrets,' I'm a different person.
'House of Balloons' was actually supposed to have more songs than it does.
'Thursday' is a conceptual album. Whatever that situation was, I spent the whole album focusing on that situation.
At one point, I didn't care. Now I want as many people to hear my music as possible.
For an Ethiopian mother, if you have a chubby kid, it means you're doing something good.
'Eastern Promises' is great.
I probably could have toured off 'Trilogy' for the rest of my life. It definitely changed the culture. No one can do a trilogy again without thanking The Weeknd.
When I was making the early stuff, I never expected it to be so big. I was in my own kind of bubble. I never wanted to tour; I just wanted to create music and make a diary I could put out into the world. And sometimes, I became the characters.
'Kiss Land' is the story after 'Trilogy'; it's pretty much the second chapter of my life. The narrative takes place after my first flight; it's very foreign, very Asian-inspired. When people ask me, 'Why Japan?' I simply tell them it's the furthest I've ever been from home. It really is a different planet.
The Joker that Christopher Nolan created in 'The Dark Knight' had the scar across his mouth, and the first time you heard his explanation for it, he makes you believe that's how he got it. But then you get into the film, and every time he talks about his scar, it's a totally different story.
I'm all about surprises. If you watch a horror movie, and it's called 'Kiss Land,' it's probably going to be the most terrifying thing you've ever seen in your life.
My production and songwriting and the environment around those vocals are not inspired by R&B at all.
'Kiss Land' is like a horror movie.