The Weeknd
I always use Michael as, first and foremost, a vocal inspiration, and 'Off the Wall' was definitely the one that made me feel like I could sing.
I just love Bowie. I think he's the ultimate inventor.
Even though I've been putting out bodies of work for years, 'Beauty Behind the Madness' felt like the beginning.
My mother, my grandmother, my uncles would play Ethiopian artists like Aster Aweke and Mulatu Astatke all the time in the house.
I knew the second I finished the first record - 'House Of Balloons' - and had all this material leftover that a trilogy would be best.
I feel like everything we do comes down to how it looks. Even no branding is branding. For example, you had no face or image to put to my music at first. That was branding.
When I was born, that was the music my mother was listening to. Michael Jackson is a third parent to me.
I'm a studio rat.
I wish I could make music about politics. I feel like it's such an art and a talent that I admire tremendously, but when I step into the studio, I step out of the real world, and it's therapeutic.
I love trying new things.
You aren't normal if you sing to people. You aren't a normal person. It's nerve-racking.
I don't think I'd ever apologise for music I make, no.
I was everything an R&B singer wasn't. I wasn't in shape. I wasn't a pretty boy.
I just want to keep pushing the envelope without it feeling forced.
I'm all about evolution. I'm the first person to judge myself.
I want to be remembered as iconic and different.
I usually don't like to 'spoon feed' my audience, because I grew up idolizing story tellers who tell stories using symbolism, so it was in my nature to do the same.
I've had sleep paralysis.
I don't believe in icons.
In the beginning, I was very insecure. I hated how I looked in pictures.
I'm the most boring person to talk to.
Literally wrote 'Starboy' in 30 minutes.
Music is like film to me.
It's almost schizophrenic who I portray in my music.
I'm trying to get to Mars before everyone else.
When you're traveling constantly, every day you become inspired, and it shows in my work, sonically, lyrically, visually. Conversations with women with different accents and stories told in those accents. I like to create characters based on different people I've met, and relationships. I like to tell stories loosely based on real-life events.
Me not finishing school - in my head, I still have this insecurity when I'm talking to someone educated.
I wrote a song with Ed Sheeran that was kind of spontaneous.
All of my music is honest.
People always say when they meet me that I'm not what they expect. I assume they think I'm this super dark and depressing guy, but I like to channel all of those emotions into my work.
I'm pretty laid-back in real life. I just love hanging with my friends and making jokes. The jokes don't stop - literally, all day.
I make good music for long journeys.
OVOXO will always be there.
From when I was born to when I was 21, I never left Toronto. That's why I'm such a city cat.
If you ever see young artists, and they're not sounding good, they sound good. They're good singers. They wouldn't be where they are if they didn't sound good. It's their nerves. Any time you see your favorite artist, and he's or she's screwing up or not hitting those notes, it's not because she can't hit it or she can't sing; he or she is scared.
Bragging just sounds good, man.
I get naturally uncomfortable when I'm put under a magnifying glass.
Taylor Swift's audience can listen to me, but so can the street kids. I want to touch it all.
Environment is very important to me. Sometimes I have to perform during the day for festivals, and my music does not work in the daytime. It is nighttime music.
All I do is make music.
For my generation, the bomber jacket is like a replacement for the suit jacket. It's a piece that men wear every day, and it's something that I would wear for any occasion, whether it's on the street or going to an awards ceremony.
The effect of music on fashion has been immense, especially hip-hop and urban music.
My inspiration is R. Kelly, Michael Jackson, and Prince - for the vocals, anyway.
When I write, I write about my surroundings. Sometimes it's light, and sometimes it gets very dark.
When you come to my show, I want it to feel like opera, like a theatre.
I just kept touring and touring until it became second nature to go onstage, perform, and sing.
I'm a huge fan of R. Kelly's. He's a musical genius and probably the most prolific artist of the generation before mine.
I didn't like the way I looked in pictures - when I saw myself on a digital camera, I was like, 'Eesh.'
To be recognized for the hard work my team and I put into 'Starboy' is an honor.