Since the drop of his latest album, Beauty Behind The Madness, in late August, things have surely been crazy for The Weeknd. Multiple No. 1 singles, a No. 1 album, appearance after appearance, and seemingly opening up a bit more than we’re use to, the craziness is more than less accomplishments than it is psychotic. Next up in the media frenzy coverage of the singer is his brand new Rolling Stone cover. In the extensive sit-down interview, The Weeknd talks being a weirdo, having nothing but gratitude and love for Drake, and much more.
For months, no one even knew if the Weeknd was a person or a group. That’s when Tesfaye realized he “could run with the whole enigmatic thing,” he says now. “If it backfired, I probably would have been doing interviews. But people were kind of liking me being a fucking weirdo.”
“I was hungry….I was like, ‘Dude, take anything.'” Today, he says he has nothing but gratitude for Drake, whom he calls “my closest friend in the industry at that time.” Still, he says, “I gave up almost half of my album. It’s hard. I will always be thankful — if it wasn’t for the light he shined on me, who knows where I’d be. And everything happens for a reason.” That said: “You never know what I would say if this success wasn’t in front of me now.”
It’s rather refreshing to see an artist like The Weeknd open up more these days, but still have an element of secrecy and privacy about himself. Currently, with the world at his hands, there’s nothing that can stop the momentum that the singer has under him. With a tour ready to kick off next month, there’s no doubt about it that this isn’t the last we see from The Weeknd for a long time. Check out the full interview and spread, here.
