The Weeknd

The Weeknd Is Accused Of Ripping Off An Electro-House Duo On His 2018 Track ‘Call Out My Name’

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The Weeknd has some new legal troubles on his hands. The singer has been accused of plagiarism by an electro-house duo in a new lawsuit. Epikker’s Suniel Fox and Henry Strange claim the singer’s 2018 track, “Call Out My Name,” off his EP My Dear Melancholy, ripped off their 2017 song “Vibeking.” The lawsuit also takes aim at the song’s co-writers Frank Dukes and Nicolas Jaar, their publishers, and Universal Music Group.

In court documents, Fox and Strange claim that “Vibeking” was created in April 2015 and published “in or around April or May 2017.” The duo adds that they sent the song to PNDA, one of The Weeknd’s engineers, with the hope that he would hear the song. They add that the track was one of many songs they sent to him for consideration.

On April 29, 2015 PNDA allegedly responded to one of the writers and told them that the song is “fiiiire” in emails that contained the track. Later, on May 15 of that year, PNDA added that The Weeknd heard the song and said that “it’s fire.”

PNDA then responded to Strange saying, “Just gonna tell [The Weeknd] that our production team wrote the track. Cool? Or u have another idea? Just don’t wanna say ‘hey, [Strange] wrote this’ when he doesn’t know u.” Strange replied, “[The Weeknd] knows me. Say both. [Strange] with Ponytail you met on Drake tour. Who is part of our production team.”

Despite this, the “Vibeking” writers did not receive a license or agreement from The Weeknd’s team to use the song for “Call Out My Name.” Chris Ghazarian, the lawyer representing the “Vibeking” writers, spoke on behalf of them in regards to the lawsuit.

“The Weeknd is no stranger to accusations of infringement, and this one is probably the most egregious case to date,” he said. “Epikker (Suniel and Henry) works with many artists in the industry, and was profoundly disappointed when The Weeknd and his team copied ‘Vibeking,’ an original Epikker song that was shared with them years ago in good faith.” He added, “I look forward to working with Doniger Burroughs to secure reasonable compensation and credit for Epikker in connection with ‘Call Out My Name.’”

The Weeknd Continues To Tease His New Era With An ‘American Psycho’ And Kendrick Lamar Mashup

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The Weeknd has made it clear that a new era is on the horizon, but so far all he’s done is tease the next installment of music with very specific clues. Abel initially began letting fans know that something new was on the way at the Billboard Music Awards when he cryptically said “the dawn is coming” during an acceptance speech. Then again, what else could come after After Hours but the dawn itself?

On Instagram today the R&B star seemed to reference his next phase again, with a comic book style image that shows Abel sleepily rubbing his eyes in bed while a butler of sorts opens the curtains saying “The dawn is here master Tesfaye.” The flip side of that fairly straightforward post is a clip from American Psycho where Christian Bale is walking through his office. In Tthe original, “Walking On Sunshine” is the music playing the background but for his post today Abel swapped it for something else, namely a clip from “Range Brothers” by Baby Keem featuring Kendrick Lamar.

Perhaps this means K. Dot will be prominently featured in the new music Abel is prepping. That’s a match up that would definitely be comic book worthy. Either way, keep your ears out for new music from The Weeknd, it’s coming soon.

Drake And The Weeknd Are The Subjects Of A New Class At A Toronto College

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Over the past decade-plus, Drake and The Weeknd have become two of the most prominent musical figures in pop culture, so much so that at least one professor thinks they’re worth spending an entire semester studying. Writer and teacher Dalton Higgins will teach a course titled “RTA 950: Selected Topics In Media — Deconstructing Drake And The Weeknd” at Toronto’s Ryerson University.

In an Instagram post about the course, Higgins explained his motivation behind creating the class, writing:

“There are great courses out there being taught about numerous rock, folk and pop stars like Miley Cyrus, Bruce Springsteen, Lady Gaga, so why not The Weeknd and Dizzy. Also, I’ve been kicking around the Hip Hop Ed scene for years and have seen some great courses being taught in the USA about Jay Z (Georgetown University), Outkast (Armstrong State University), Beyonce (there are MANY Bey courses; Arizona State, University of Texas; Rutgers University). Plus the University of Arizona offers a minor in Hip Hop Studies, and Mcnally Smith College in Minnesota offers a hip hop diploma. […] Nevertheless, it’s time to get our Canadian rap & R&B icons recognized & canonized academically or otherwise. And it is CRITICAL for scholars, historians, to examine the Toronto music scene that birthed Drake/Weeknd and helped create the conditions for them to become mega successful.”

As Daily Hive notes, Higgins published an unofficial Drake biography in 2012 and has been teaching hip-hop-related courses at Toronto universities for the past decade.

Drake And The Weeknd Are The Subjects Of A New Class At A Toronto College

by
Getty Image

Over the past decade-plus, Drake and The Weeknd have become two of the most prominent musical figures in pop culture, so much so that at least one professor thinks they’re worth spending an entire semester studying. Writer and teacher Dalton Higgins will teach a course titled “RTA 950: Selected Topics In Media — Deconstructing Drake And The Weeknd” at Toronto’s Ryerson University.

In an Instagram post about the course, Higgins explained his motivation behind creating the class, writing:

“There are great courses out there being taught about numerous rock, folk and pop stars like Miley Cyrus, Bruce Springsteen, Lady Gaga, so why not The Weeknd and Dizzy. Also, I’ve been kicking around the Hip Hop Ed scene for years and have seen some great courses being taught in the USA about Jay Z (Georgetown University), Outkast (Armstrong State University), Beyonce (there are MANY Bey courses; Arizona State, University of Texas; Rutgers University). Plus the University of Arizona offers a minor in Hip Hop Studies, and Mcnally Smith College in Minnesota offers a hip hop diploma. […] Nevertheless, it’s time to get our Canadian rap & R&B icons recognized & canonized academically or otherwise. And it is CRITICAL for scholars, historians, to examine the Toronto music scene that birthed Drake/Weeknd and helped create the conditions for them to become mega successful.”

As Daily Hive notes, Higgins published an unofficial Drake biography in 2012 and has been teaching hip-hop-related courses at Toronto universities for the past decade.

The Weeknd And Swedish House Mafia Seemingly Confirm A Collaboration After A Hint At The VMAs

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Last night’s VMAs yielded a bunch of headlines, but one story that flew perhaps a little under the radar is what appears to be an upcoming collaboration between The Weeknd and Swedish House Mafia.

The latter group had some time on stage during last night’s proceedings, and at the end of their performance, The Weeknd’s voice singing “like a moth to a flame” is audible as the text “to be continued” was displayed on stage.

Sure enough, after the performance, both The Weeknd and Swedish House Mafia shared the same teaser clip on social media and tagged each other in their posts, essentially confirming that the pair have some sort of collaborative endeavor on the way.

Beyond that, neither artist has offered any more info about what’s going on here.

This comes after a long time away from Swedish House Mafia, as the group previously broke up but is now reunited. Their most recent album is 2012’s Until Now. As for The Weeknd, he’s apparently in the home stretch of making his new album, as he recently said, “I’m finishing the new album right now. It should be done by the end of this month and we’re just kind of figuring out when to put it out. It’s been really cool because I’m working on this album this summer simultaneously with the writer’s room for the new TV show. So, I’ve been kind of going back and forth from finishing the album and pending up the show that we’re going to start shooting soon. It’s been quite a summer.”

The Weeknd Shifts Perspective In A Female-Focused Alternate Video For ‘Can’t Feel My Face’

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Back in the summer of 2015, The Weeknd’s career was reaching star status. He’d laced a No. 1 single with “The Hills” and was just weeks away from sharing his second album, Beauty Behind The Madness. That project would go on to be his first chart-topping album, but before it arrived The Weeknd graced the world with what would be his second No. 1 single, “Can’t Feel My Face.”

More than six years after the world received that track, the singer has returned with an alternate video for the song, one that shifts the perspective to another character in the story. In the new visual, the camera keeps much of its focus on a female companion that captures The Weeknd’s attention from start to finish.

The woman in question is presumably the person The Weeknd sings about in the song as he alludes to their relationship with lines like, “She told me ‘Don’t worry’” and “She told me, ‘You’ll never be alone.’” Altogether the new visual is quite sensual, and it turns out that the video is one the singer hoped to use for the song before it was sidelined due to a “shift in creative direction,” according to a press release.

The Weeknd’s alternate “Can’t Feel My Face” video comes after he joined Kanye West and Lil Baby on “Hurricane” and released the trailer for his upcoming Super Bowl halftime show documentary. The upcoming film brings viewers behind the scenes of his performance for February’s Super Bowl game.

You can press play on the alternate video for “Can’t Feel My Face” above.

The First Trailer For The Weeknd’s Super Bowl Halftime Show Documentary Goes Behind The Scenes

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Not long after his spectacular Super Bowl halftime show earlier this year, it was revealed that The Weeknd’s performance would be the subject of a Showtime documentary called The Show. Now, we’ve gotten our first look at the film via a new trailer.

The minute-long video includes footage of and soundbites from people, who are mostly not The Weeknd, working behind the scenes of the production. The Show is set to premiere on September 24.

Todd Kaplan, VP of marketing at Pepsi, previously said of The Show, “The Pepsi Super Bowl Halftime Show is undoubtedly the world’s biggest stage, producing the most viewed and talked about moment in music every single year. The pressure to deliver an iconic, memorable and entertaining performance is felt well beyond the artist, as there are a number of people — behind the scenes — who are vital to its success. With our new documentary coming to Showtime, we are taking fans on the emotional and thrilling journey of what it takes to make the biggest show of the year — with the added complexity of doing so amidst a global pandemic. With Jesse Collins and a number of super-talented creatives at the helm, The Show chronicles all the drama and hard work that goes into successfully pulling off a show of this magnitude.”

Check out the trailer above.

Every Artist and Producer Kanye West Worked With on Donda Album

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Donda is clearly a true labor of love. Continue reading…

Kanye West And The Weeknd Reunite For Their First Track In Five Years On ‘Hurricane’ With Lil Baby

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Ladies and gentlemen, at long last, Kanye West’s Donda is here.

The album arrives with 26 songs and a slew of guest appearances, but a highlight from the new project comes on “Hurricane” with The Weeknd and Lil Baby. Six years ago, West and The Weeknd revealed their first collaborations with “Tell Your Friends,” from the singer’s second album Beauty Behind The Madness. The following year, they reconnected once again for “FML,” from the rapper’s 2016 album, The Life Of Pablo.

While The Weeknd provided the hook for his and Kanye’s collaboration, the GOOD Music rapper was solely responsible for the production on “Tell Your Friends.” Both tracks were strong efforts from their respective albums, but since the 2016 track’s arrival, fans had yet to receive another collaboration between the acts. All of that changed on Sunday when Donda finally made its debut.

Kanye and The Weeknd reunited once again on “Hurricane” with Lil Baby from the rapper’s latest album, Donda. Just like “FML,” the song finds The Weeknd on the hook while Lil Baby and Kanye each lay a verse on the bass-heavy track. The new collaboration officially arrives nearly a month after The Weeknd expressed his desire to work with Kanye again during a GQ profile that was released at the beginning of this month.

“I’d love to work with Kanye [West] again,” the singer said, adding, “Especially on production.”

Soon enough, Kanye made a phone call to the singer, which he revealed through a now-deleted screenshot of his call log that he shared to Instagram. It was just a few days after this conversation that West premiered “Hurricane” during the second listening session for Donda in Atlanta.

The track appears on the long-awaited and long-overdue release of Donda. The rapper dropped his tenth album on Sunday morning, just three days after his third listening session for the project, and it comes attached with 26 songs and additional features from Jay-Z, Playboi Carti, Roddy Ricch, The LOX, Ty Dolla Sign, Lil Durk, Fivio Foreign, Pop Smoke, Vory, Shenseea, and many more.

You can listen to “Hurricane” here.

Donda is out now via GOOD Music/Def Jam. Get it here.

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

Belly, The Weeknd, And Nas Are Willing To ‘Die For It’ In Their Courageous New Video

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Three years after sharing his fifth project, Immigrant, XO Records signee Belly is back in actually with his newly-released album, See You Next Wedneday. It’s a project that comes with 19 songs and guest appearances from Big Sean, Young Thug, The Weeknd, Nas, Benny The Butcher, Gunna, Lil Uzi Vert, Nav, PnB Rock, and more. In addition to the album’s arrival, Belly graces fans with a video for “Die For It,” an effort that features contributions from The Weeknd and Nas.

The visual opens with Belly walking in the midst of destruction. Rumble and burning buildings surround him as he raps about the many hardships he overcame in life. Following a haunting hook from The Weeknd, Nas steps to the mic to relay thoughts that fall in line with those that Belly shared in his own verse. While Belly and Nas can be seen in the video, The Weeknd’s presence is captured on various screens that appear throughout the visual.

Prior to the album’s release, Belly revealed that See You Next Wednesday received approval from none other than Jay-Z. “Before I officially close out an album, there’s two people I play it for to get the seal of approval: Hov and Abel,” Belly wrote in a tweet. “That being said, I can officially say the album is done.”

You can listen to “Die For It” in the video above.

See You Next Wednesday is out now via XO Records/Roc Nation. Get it here.

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