The Weeknd Archives - Page 2 of 60

Anitta Is Freakily Pregnant In The Video For Her And The Weeknd’s New Collab, ‘São Paulo’

October 31, 2024 by newhiphopnews

In September, The Weeknd played a special one-off concert in São Paulo, Brazil. The city is apparently still on his mind, as today (October 31), he teamed up with Brazil’s own Anitta on a new single, “São Paulo.”

In addition to a five-minute version of the song, there’s also a shorter three-minute version that’s heard in the song’s video. The video is a trip, by the way, as it features Anitta, who is pregnant but in a sort of grotesque way.

In an eerie teaser video shared in September, The Weeknd wrote, “Yesterday was fourteen years ago… We held our breath, falling into a shimmering sea in the after hours of the night… Attempted to cleanse the wounds with melodies and lights, a bulletproof bandage to shield what lies beneath. In a place where the seasons never changed, where time ceased to exist. But therein lays the problem. Today has felt like an endless spin. I keep distorting the truth, immune to the dizziness, numb to the nausea. What lies beneath — screams in silence. I look in the mirror and feel both old and new, stuck in limbo and unable to move. I still haven’t faced myself. More songs could help, but what do I have left to say? Woe is me in my gilded cage, right? The very thing that once made me invincible failed me on the world stage. A new trauma surfaced, opening floodgates. A new path awaits. When today ends, I’ll discover who I am. Hurry Up Tomorrow.”

Listen to “Sáo Paulo” and watch the video above.

The Weeknd Releases “São Paulo” Video With Anitta For Halloween

October 31, 2024 by newhiphopnews

The Weeknd debuts his highly anticipated song and music video for “São Paulo” featuring Brazilian superstar Anitta. Directed by the visionary FREEKA, the video takes a dark, jarring turn as Anitta, who is pregnant in the storyline, reveals an ever-emerging face within her belly. This bizarre and haunting imagery amplifies another bold visual chapter for The Weeknd. Alongside the video premiere, “São Paulo” will be available on all streaming platforms worldwide.

The release of “São Paulo” follows a series of record-breaking accomplishments for The Weeknd. He recently surpassed his own record as the artist with the highest monthly listeners on Spotify, with over 120 million monthly listeners. This milestone comes on the heels of chart-topping releases like “Timeless” featuring Playboi Carti, produced by Pharrell Williams, which debuted in the top 3 on the Billboard Hot 100, and “Dancing in the Flames.” Both tracks are set to appear on his upcoming album, Hurry Up Tomorrow.

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The Weeknd And Anitta’s “São Paulo” Is A Club Anthem For The Ages

October 30, 2024 by newhiphopnews

The Weeknd’s ambition has always been one of his greatest traits. He also has a new concept, and a new aesthetic to match his musical direction. The first two singles from his upcoming album, “Dancing In the Flames” and “Timeless,” were radically different in tone and style. The same can be said for the singer’s collab with Anitta, “São Paulo.” It’s the longest single from the album so far, and it earns its runtime with a massive instrumental and absolutely mesmerizing production. “São Paulo” is the sound of a club song from a dystopian future, and plays to both The Weeknd’s and Anitta’s strengths.

Anitta handles the chorus, which is the first thing we hear. The Brazilian singer’s voice is filtered, making it sound more like a vocal sample than an original feature. The decision plays to the song’s benefit. “São Paulo” takes nearly two minutes to build up to its full form. Synth leads slash through the Anitta’s chorus and The Weeknd’s soaring falsetto. The drums rush in around the two minute mark, transporting fans to an unhinged, unstoppable middle half. “São Paulo” takes its time to unfold, but it never stays in one place for very long. It’s one of the boldest singles The Weeknd has ever released. We can’t wait to hear how it plays into Hurry Up, Tomorrow as a whole.

Let us know what you think of this brand-new track, in the comments section down below. Additionally, stay tuned to HNHH for the latest news and updates from around the music world. We will continue to keep you informed on all of your favorite artists and their upcoming projects.

The Weeknd Sings Atop A Hectic Electronic Beat

Quotable Lyrics:

Every time I try to run, you put your curse all over me
I surrender at your feet, baby, put it all on me
Every time I try to pray a way, you got me on my knees
I surrender at your feet, baby, put it all on me

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The Weeknd Teases Anitta Collab “São Paulo” With Cryptic Mask Post

October 26, 2024 by newhiphopnews

The Weeknd is all about the aesthetics. The pop star loves to reinvent his image and his sound from album to album. He’s also highly secretive about his album rollouts, as evidenced by the lack of info that fans have gotten for Hurry Up, Tomorrow. The cryptic rollout continued on October 25, when he posted a photo of Brazilian singer Anitta on his Instagram Story. The photo was striking for several reasons, with the most notable being the fact that Anitta is wearing a white mask.

Anitta posted the photo on her Instagram, which also saw her showcase her pregnant stomach. Moreso than the pregnancy, though, was the fact that she was covering her face with the aforementioned mask. The Weeknd reposted the image on his IG Story with the caption “Congrats @Anitta.” This has led many fans to theorize that “São Paulo,” the song that The Weeknd and Anitta have recorded, will be the next single for Hurry Up, Tomorrow. The song was previewed in September 2024, and was promptly played live during The Weeknd’s Brazilian show.

The Weeknd And Anitta Teased The Song In September

The Weeknd congratulates Anitta on his Instagram story. pic.twitter.com/JKuPpnVhjl

— Pop Base (@PopBase) October 26, 2024

The Weeknd hyped up the song further during an interview with Billboard Brazil. “Anitta is a great friend,” he explained. “What she sent was so awesome that we created the song. Anitta returned the praise, and shed light on how the collaboration came together. Evidently, she did not think the song would actually get done. “I wrote some verses as a joke and never imagined they would become serious,” she claimed. “Suddenly, I received the finished song. I loved it! I felt very honored and flattered.”

Anitta’s decision to pose with the white mask speaks to the larger aesthetic that The Weeknd is going for on Hurry Up, Tomorrow. The same white mask adorned the cover of the singer’s last single. “Timeless” was a massive success for both The Weeknd and Playboi Carti, but it’s obvious the imagery of a face in a stark, feature-less mask is going to play a role in the narrative that the Canadian singer is going for. What does it mean? We don’t know. But we expect to see it a lot over the next few months.

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The Weeknd Mocks His Playboy Image On “The Weeknd’s Dark Secret”

October 25, 2024 by newhiphopnews

The Weeknd has built his persona on sex and drugs. He’s the embodiment of lust and regret, right down to the album titles and visuals he’s rolled out over the last decade. It’s worked, obviously. He’s one of the biggest pop stars of all time. The funny thing is that The Weeknd has parodied this persona in every other medium. He played a scheming and decidedly uncool cult leader in HBO’s The Idol, and he made an unexpected appearance on the animated series American Dad. He also contributed a song to the latter, which is now available on streaming.

“The Weeknd’s Dark Secret,” for the sake of the bit, is that he’s a virgin. The whole song is about how the singer puts off a debaucherous front, but is actually saving himself for the right woman. It’s a very funny concept. The Weeknd’s sincere delivery makes it even better. He really sells the song, and makes it catchy thanks to his tongue-in-cheek lyrics. “I see you lookin’ in a strong way,” he sings. “But I won’t give it up. Supermodels, they were all fake, ’cause I never humped.” It doesn’t hurt that the instrumental has a nocturnal bounce to it reminiscent of his classic After Hours.

The Weeknd Really Commits To This Parody Song

Quotable Lyrics:

I’m a virgin (Uh)
Never got close enough
Cell phone blowin’ up, but I’m waiting
For the right person (Uh)

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Jermaine Dupri Clowns ‘Secretive’ Artists For Ruining Their Career Momentum

October 22, 2024 by newhiphopnews

Jermaine Dupri has seen it all and done it all. He’s made stars from scratch, elevated stars to superstars, and helped fallen superstars regained their groove. He gets it. The producer has taken a step back in the last few years, barring his brief appearance during the 2023 Super Bowl Halftime Show. That said, he has some thoughts on the current generation of artists. Jermaine Dupri has nothing but respect for the talent and artistry of the current wave. He just feels like the way they’re rolling out their music is proving to be a hindrance.

Jermaine Dupri fired off two tweets with this sentiment on October 22. The first was brief. “Hits don’t allow you to be secretive,” he wrote. The second, however, saw the producer expand on his issues with the “secretive” approach. “N**gas all extra secretive on dey IG like they coming with that killa,” he wrote. “Y’all done let these none going out executives trick you.” Dupri believes that artists should follow a more traditional rollout when it comes to building anticipation for new releases. Rappers and singers are doing less, and the numbers support the producer’s claims.

Jermaine Dupri Criticized Current Music Executives

Hits don’t allow you to be secretive

— Jermaine Dupri (@jermainedupri) October 22, 2024

There has also been frustration on the part of fans. 2024 has seen artists like Kendrick Lamar, Playboi Carti and Frank Ocean tease new music. Some have dropped new songs, but have yet to announce plans for a release date. The timing of Jermaine Dupri’s tweets led some to speculate as to whether he meant to refer to Lamar, in particular. The Compton rapper released an interview with Harper’s Bazaar the day before, in which he still refused to reveal info about new music. Some in the comment section felt Dupri was out of touch. Others, meanwhile, agreed with his sentiments.

This is not the first time Jermaine Dupri has criticized the current state of the music business. The producer went semi-viral for his take on AI music back in February. “I don’t even know why people are excited because… it’s fake,” he said during an Atlanta conference. “It takes away from what you actually feel… AI comes in and it’s like washing away all of this.” To be fair, Dupri is putting his money were his mouth is. He recently launched a partnership with Create Music Group to focus on developing a new crop of artists.

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The Weeknd Breaks His Own Spotify Record And Creates New Ones

October 13, 2024 by newhiphopnews

The Weeknd has a pretty strong claim to the title of biggest artist in the world, and he’s not only surpassing others in that process, but also himself. Moreover, he once again broke the record for most Spotify monthly listeners worldwide, now past the 120 million mark. The last person to break the record for the most Spotify monthly listeners was… Well, Abel Tesfaye himself. In addition, he also reportedly became the first artist to have 19 songs with over 1 billion streams on the platform, and it probably won’t be long before he hits 20. However, some reports suggest that he already hit 20 or is still at 18, so it’s a bit unclear at the moment.

Regardless, there’s no doubt that The Weeknd will surpass this goal soon, and will probably create a lot of other records through his outstanding commercial performance. As for what could’ve caused this rise in monthly listeners, it’s likely that the Playboi Carti collab “Timeless” contributed to a surge in listenership and commercial performance. Given how excited fans were for it and how much this duo has captivated them before, it also helps that they received the new record quite well.

The Weeknd Breaks His Own Record

What’s more is that The Weeknd has a massive moment coming up that will probably make his commercial performance exceed even more than it already is. Hurry Up Tomorrow is reportedly right around the corner, and while we don’t have a release date yet, it’s one of the most anticipated albums right now. It will also be the final album under this moniker and conclude the After Hours Til Dawn trilogy, so a couple of different eras will wrap up with this drop.

Meanwhile, Abel recently responded to praise from another massive artist. “How does The Weeknd still have that sweet young sounding falsetto?” Nicki Minaj recently tweeted. He responded by quote-tweeting her post with some heart emojis, and it’s always great to see fellow superstars praise each other and motivate each other to keep their foot on the gas. As impressive as Spotify numbers are, none of them could ever match to artistic respect and the love of your peers.

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