After Hours Archives - New Hip Hop News

The Weeknd Is Definitely Up To Something, As He Shared More Cryptic Clues About An Apparent New Album

July 24, 2024 by newhiphopnews

The Weeknd Performs At Wembley Stadium — Getty Image

Last August, The Weeknd hinted to W Magazine that he would one day “close The Weeknd chapter.” That day is not today — or seemingly any day in the foreseeable future because he appears to be at the precipice of unfurling a lengthy era.

On Wednesday, July 24, The Weeknd posted a screenshot of his own X (formerly Twitter) post from the past, reading, “some chapters are smaller than others. not this next one though…” The global sensation born Abel Tesfaye reposted that to his Instagram Story, where he also posted a cryptic screenshot of the same animated character he’s been teasing — this one captioned, “Don’t stare too long.”

pic.twitter.com/3GP4bd5GV5

— Abel Tesfaye (@theweeknd) July 24, 2024

Don’t stare too long pic.twitter.com/Qup0LLPTit

— The Weeknd News (@NewsWeeknd) July 24, 2024

The broad (and probably correct) assumption is that The Weeknd is teasing the third album in the After Hours/Dawn FM trilogy. In January 2022, The Weeknd confirmed that he was in the midst of crafting a trilogy, and last week, he reposted a fan’s post saying this trilogy is “already better” than The Weeknd’s 2011 trilogy of House Of Balloons, Thursday, and Echoes Of Silence.

The cryptic teasing technically began earlier this month when The Weeknd posted a close-up of a child’s eyes. But it became undeniable when he announced a one-off concert in São Paulo, Brazil on September 7 followed by a video showing After Hours Weeknd and Dawn FM Weeknd before we’re introduced to a new character: An upset young boy, presumably young Abel, crouched and surrounded by spooky characters. “There are three chapters to this tale,” the screen reads.

On Tuesday, July 23, The Weeknd posted another teaser video with our new protagonist, captioned, “When you gaze long enough into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you…”

See The Weeknd’s posts below.

Kehlani Wants Love “After Hours” On New Single: Stream

April 7, 2024 by newhiphopnews

Kehlani is lustfully looking for some love in the club even after the lights come on and the people leave on their new single “After Hours.” Right when the song kicks off, we know where this inspiration comes from: the song samples Nina Sky’s club-dominating 2004 smash hit “Move Ya Body.” However, this time around, they build it up with some tropical instrumentation, gorgeous harmonies, background vocals, and a much more tender approach than the original. Overall, it makes for a surprising but welcome reinterpretation that the Oakland native makes entirely their own. Still, if you haven’t heard “Move Ya Body” in a long time, this track will definitely remind you of just how undeniable, groovy, and infectious that opening percussion pattern is.

As such, “After Hours” ends up blending a couple of different elements together to make for a pretty ambiguous genre classification, which we mean in the best way possible. The sampled drums give it that hard hip-hop-adjacent grime that refuses to lock itself out of your body’s internal rhythm for hours after you listen. In addition, Kehlani’s vocal melodies and tone show their dexterity in the realm of R&B, whereas the instrumentation and flow mixed with the drums might remind listeners of dancehall styles. While this isn’t anything special lyrically, it definitely checks the catchy box and emotively showcases much more than lust through the production and songwriting. Maybe try playing this song when your night out is winding out, and you’ll see the results for yourself.

Kehlani’s “After Hours”: Stream & Watch The Official Lyric Video

Meanwhile, it seems like the 28-year-old is coming out with a new project soon, which should be very exciting for fans. If it’s anything like this new cut, then we should be in for a wavy, pleasant, and emotionally resonant piece that makes a lot out of a little. If you haven’t heard “After Hours” yet, check out the official lyric video above and catch our favorite lines below. Also, make sure to find it on your preferred streaming service and let us know what you thought of it down in the comments. For more news on Kehlani and the latest great music drops around the clock, log back into HNHH.

Quotable Lyrics
We ain’t gotta check the time,
Even when it ends, it’s still you and I,
We ain’t even know they turned on the lights,
We missed the last call riding on a high

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Kehlani Drops Dance Track “After Hours”

April 5, 2024 by newhiphopnews

Multi-platinum and GRAMMY-nominated artist Kehlani returns with her latest single, “After Hours.” The dance anthem, featuring a sample from Cordel “Scatta” Burrell’s “Coolie Dance Rhythm,” is produced by Khris Riddick and Alex Goldblatt. This release marks Kehlani’s first solo track since her 2022 album Blue Water Road, which featured collaborations with industry stars like Justin Bieber, Jessie Reyez, and Thundercat.

The post Kehlani Drops Dance Track “After Hours” first appeared on The Source.

The post Kehlani Drops Dance Track “After Hours” appeared first on The Source.

The Weeknd’s “After Hours” LP Turns Four: Looking Back At The Self-titled, Multi-faceted Masterpiece Of A Song

March 20, 2024 by newhiphopnews

The Weeknd has so many classic tracks in his discography, that almost goes without saying. Whether its radio hits, bangers, or just well-crafted records, he really does have something for everyone. On top of having incredible tracks, he also has unforgettable albums. One of those is his 2020 contemporary R&B/80s pop offering After Hours. This was the LP that began his second trilogy in his discography and was continued in 2022 with Dawn FM. Today, on After Hours fourth anniversary, we wanted to reminisce about the captivating self-titled track to see how well it has held up.

“After Hours” was produced by The Weeknd as well as R&B legend Mario Winans, and frequent collaborators Illangelo and DaHeala. The Canadian R&B megastar made the song about a familiar topic in his canon. He is on his knees, apologizing to someone he used to be with as he looks to repair the relationship and himself. However, his old, promiscuous tendencies have come back up after being separated from her, making his vows to change less believable. It is a beautifully dark and sad tale that is executed perhaps the best on this song.

Relisten To “After Hours” By The Weeknd

The third promotional single for “After Hours” did not see the same mainstream success as a “Blinding Lights,” for example. However, it still had a respectable number 77 placement in its first week on the Hot 100 chart. It went on to eventually peak at number 20, but this record is more than the numbers. The Weeknd really went all into creating a progressive experience with incredible beat switches, especially when the second verse comes in. We see this as an essential Weeknd track and it may be his greatest performance ever.

What were your thoughts on “After Hours” by The Weeknd when it dropped? Do you consider this his strongest track in his discography, why or why not? Or, is it just the best song on After Hours? Is this The Weeknd’s best album, why or why not? Is he the Michael Jackson of this era? We would like to hear what you have to say, so be sure to leave your takes in the comments section. Additionally, always keep it locked in with HNHH for all of the latest news surrounding The Weeknd. Finally, stay with us for the most informative song posts throughout the week.

Quotable Lyrics:

My darkest hours
Girl, I felt so alone inside of this crowded room
Different girls on the floor, distractin’ my thoughts of you
I turned into the man I used to be, to be
Put myself to sleep
Just so I can get closer to you inside my dreams

The post The Weeknd’s “After Hours” LP Turns Four: Looking Back At The Self-titled, Multi-faceted Masterpiece Of A Song appeared first on HotNewHipHop.

The Weeknd Breaks Spotify’s All-Time Monthly Listener Record

January 23, 2024 by newhiphopnews

The Weeknd isn’t just the most listened-to artist in the entire world on Spotify, he’s reaching record-breaking new highs. He’s been the top artist on the platform for much of the past few years though occasionally Taylor Swift has briefly taken the title. But since his 2021 smash hit “Blinding Lights” became the most streamed song on the platform and the first to be streamed 4 billion times, he’s run away with the title and his record.

Now in addition to having the most streamed song on all of Spotify, he now has the record for the most monthly listeners. He recently became the first artist to ever hit 115 million monthly listeners and currently sits at 115,368,010. What’s even more impressive is that he hasn’t released a new studio album in almost two full years. Dawn FM was released in early 2022, though he’s stayed busy since then. He released his Live At SoFi Stadium live album in 2023 and followed it up with a deluxe version of his 2016 hit record Starboy. That included his smash hit remix of “Die For You” with Ariana Grande.

The Weeknd Breaks Another Spotify Record

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A post shared by DJ Akademiks (@akademiks)

Since the release of After Hours and Dawn FM The Weeknd has teased that the albums are part of a trilogy. As a result, fans have been anticipating a third project to complete the series sometime soon. He recently took to Instagram to double down on the teases with a new post. It features the album covers of his past two records followed by a third, which is currently just a blank question mark.

The post sent fans into a frenzy of speculation about when they might be getting a new album. Though there’s no concrete information available at the time it seems like he’s gearing up to complete the era soon. What do you think of The Weeknd breaking the record for most monthly listeners on Spotify all time? Let us know in the comment section below.

[Via]

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The Weeknd’s ‘Blinding Lights’ Just Made Spotify History By Being The First Song To Cross An Unreal Streaming Milestone

January 11, 2024 by newhiphopnews

The Weeknd is an undisputed king of the streaming music era, as evidenced by the fact that “Blinding Lights” is the most-played song in Spotify history. Since its release in late 2019, the song has been racking up streams, and now, it has reached a height no song before it ever has: It’s the first song to ever reach 4 billion total streams on Spotify.

As of this post, Spotify currently shows “Blinding Lights” as having 3,999,046,181 streams, but some started reporting this afternoon (January 11) that the song had eclipsed 4 billion. Regardless, if it hasn’t hit 4 billion quite yet, it will any second now (perhaps by the time you read this) and become the first song to ever do so.

Currently, after “Blinding Lights” on the all-time Spotify list are Ed Sheeran’s “Shape Of You” (3.74 billion streams), Lewis Capaldi’s “Someone You Loved” (3.15 billion), Post Malone and Swae Lee’s “Sunflower” (3.1 billion), and Tones And I’s “Dance Monkey” (2.97 billion). Just outside the top 5 is The Weeknd and Daft Punk’s “Starboy” at 2.95 billion plays.

The last song to break this sort of ground was “Shape Of You.” It used to be Spotify’s most-streamed track ever, and in December 2021, it became the first song to hit 3 billion plays on the platform. At the time, “Blinding Lights” was second on the all-time list, but it rose to No. 1 in January 2023.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Will The Weeknd Drop A New Album In 2024?

January 8, 2024 by newhiphopnews

Last year, The Weeknd’s acting career was temporarily cut short when Max canceled The Idol. Surely that means the“False Idols” singer has more time for music. Will The Weeknd drop a new album in 2024?

According to a recent post online, it appears that so. On January 7, The Weeknd took to his official X (formerly Twitter) page to tease his next album. In a gallery shared to his account, The Weeknd uploaded the covers of his 2020 album, After Hours, and 2022’s Dawn FM. The last image in the gallery was a blank black canvas marked by a question mark.

3️⃣ pic.twitter.com/ln3V0f6H50

— Abel Tesfaye (@theweeknd) January 7, 2024

The Weeknd didn’t provide any further information, but the post’s caption “three” signaled that whatever he is secretly cooking up will close out the chapter of his career. He first teased the album during an interview with Variety in June.

“I’m finishing the third part of this saga, of this trilogy,” he said. “The name of it will come out soon, but it’s not called what some fans think it’s called… what they think it’s called is actually a song on the album, but that’s not what the actual album is called [some fans speculated that it would be titled ‘After Life’]. So I’m just gonna say that.”

The Weeknd has not revealed when the unnamed project is set to hit streaming services.

The Weeknd Drops New Fortnite Collab Merch

December 11, 2023 by newhiphopnews

Over the weekend, Fortnite released its newest feature. The game allowed fans to interact directly in a rhythm game format with songs from some of the biggest artists in the world. Kendrick Lamar, Coldplay, The Killers, Olivia Rodrigo, Billie Eilish, and many more artists had songs included in the new mode. But the biggest of the bunch was one of the biggest artists in all of music right now, The Weeknd. As part of the launch the game had a weekend-long celebration of the new mode. That spilled into this week when even more new material was dropped.

The newest addition to The Weeknd and Fortnite’s recent collab is a series of merch dropped on the superstar’s website. The merch features a combination of Abel’s After Hours Tour aesthetic with visuals from Fortnite. Included in the drop are 5 shirts each with different graphics on them. Three of the shirts have sleeves while the other two are cut offs. There’s also two hoodies sporting similar designs from two of the t-shirts and a sparsely decorated bomber jacket featuring just two logos. That all comes alongside two hats, a black snapback and a camo trucker hat, as well as an action figure of The Weeknd himself which runs nearly $100. Check out the full merch drop below.

The Weeknd X Fortnite Merch

https://t.co/I1Pvuf8sE3 pic.twitter.com/3I4YW0s43P

— Abel Tesfaye (@theweeknd) December 9, 2023

Elsewhere in celebration of the new collaboration between The Weeknd and Fortnite, a flash mob of people dressed as the singer’s After Hours character popped up in New York. The promotion featured hundreds of dancers seemingly enjoying themselves dancing to multiple Weeknd songs.

The Weeknd recently wrapped up an extremely impressive tour on the back of his past two albums Dawn F.M. and After Hours. He broke numerous records for individual sales at various stops along the way. He also broke the record for highest tour gross ever by a black artist on a European tour. What do you think of The Weeknd’s Fortnite merch collab? Do you think you’ll buy anything from the collection? Let us know in the comment section below.

[Via]

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ASICS GEL-NYC x Bodega “After-Hours” Official Photos

September 10, 2023 by newhiphopnews

The ASICS GEL-NYC is a popular sneaker known for its comfort and style. It’s a go-to choice for those who want both a comfortable fit and a sleek look. And now, there’s something exciting on the horizon: a collaboration between ASICS GEL-NYC and Bodega, featuring a special “After-Hours” colorway. If you’re not familiar with Bodega, it’s a cool streetwear and sneaker store that has gained a big following for its unique designs. This collaboration means that the ASICS GEL-NYC is getting a fresh twist with Bodega’s creative touch.

The “After-Hours” colorway promises to be something special. While we don’t have all the details yet, you can expect a style that’s perfect for those late-night adventures or just adds a bit of edge to your daytime look. ASICS’ reputation for comfort and Bodega’s trendsetting style ensure that this collaboration will turn heads. So, whether you’re a sneaker enthusiast or just someone looking for a comfy and fashionable shoe, keep an eye out for the ASICS GEL-NYC x Bodega “After-Hours” collaboration. It’s a blend of comfort and creativity that’s sure to make a statement in the sneaker world.

“After-Hours” Bodega x ASICS GEL-NYC

The sneakers feature a purple rubber sole and a white midsole that features some olive green accents. Grey Mesh constructs the base of the uppers, with love green and brown leather overlays. You can find vibrant orange ASICS branding on the heel, adding lively accents. The tongue and sock liner feature additional purple accents, and you can also spot Bodega logos on the sides.

More Photos

Sneaker Bar Detroit reports that the ASICS GEL-NYC x Bodega “After-Hours” is going to drop on September 29th. Also, the retail price is unknown at the time but will be announced closer to the release date. Let us know what you think of this sneaker, in the comments section below. Additionally, stay tuned to HNHH for the latest news and updates from around the sneaker world. We will be sure to bring you the biggest releases from the biggest brands.

[Via]

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The Weeknd Was Undoubtedly Surprised By The Success Of ‘Blinding Lights’ Because He Thought ‘It Was Gonna Be A Flop’

May 16, 2023 by newhiphopnews

The Weeknd 2021 iHeartRadio Music Awards — Getty Image

Abel Tesfaye said that he plans to kill off his musical persona, The Weeknd, to venture into other creative realms. Of course, it doesn’t hurt to graciously bow out on top after becoming the first artist to cross 100 million monthly listeners on Spotify. However, despite the milestones he’s reached, there are still some accomplishments that even shocked him.

During an interview with Vanity Fair, the musician confessed that he was undoubtedly surprised by the success of one of his biggest songs. “I thought ‘Blinding Lights’ was gonna be a flop,” Tesfaye said.

Co-produced by Max Martin and Oscar Holter, “Blinding Lights” was the second single released off The Weeknd’s After Hours album. According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), the song is now certified diamond after selling 10 million copies.

With an unpredictable boost from TikTok, the entertainer is excited to see how the younger demographic has latched onto his work and the music he was inspired by.

“It’s a new generation of angsty teens discovering all the dark music like when I was 14,” he said. “Kurt Cobain, Wu-Tang, and all these songs that, as a kid, I probably shouldn’t be listening to, and 50 Cent. This f*cking dark and amazing escape.”

Only time will tell if The Weeknd truly retires from music.