Christmas General Discussion Thread 2020 - HipHop

The Weeknd is the stage name of Abel Tesfaye, the son of Ethiopian immigrants Samra and Makkonen Tesfaye. Abel was born in Toronto on February 16th, 1990, where he lived for the first two decades of his life. His parents separated early in his life, and Abel was raised by his mother and his grandmother. He met his father a few times in his adolescence, but they never gained a close relationship. Abel notes that he doesn't necessarily harbor any ill will towards his father, saying "I'd see him for, like, a night. I'm sure he's a great guy. I never judged him. He wasn't abusive, he wasn't an alcoholic, he wasn't an asshole. He just wasn't there."

Tesfaye began experimenting with marijuana at 11, and quickly moved on to harder drugs like cocaine, Xanax, and mushrooms. In his teen years, he was kicked out of school and briefly became homeless. He at one point went a year without talking to his mother.

Not much else is publicly known about Abel's early life. Musically, he was part of the production group Noise and rapped briefly under the stage name Kin Kane. There's this video of him rapping and a small collection of leaked songs that are roughly from this era], but that's it.

Somewhere around 2010, Abel Tesfaye met produce Jeremy Rose, a producer who had been wanting to work on a 'dark' R&B project. Rose produced a number of songs for Abel, with three of them being eventually uploaded to Tesfaye's YouTube channel ("What You Need", "Loft Music", and "The Morning"). These were the first songs released under the anonymous pseudonym "The Weeknd." The three aforementioned songs began to gain traction on the internet, earning the attention of fellow Toronto artist Drake. They were subsequently released as part of the first The Weeknd mixtape, House of Balloons in March of 2011.

House of Balloons turned The Weeknd into one of the hottest newcomers in the R&B world seemingly overnight. This groundbreaking mixtape merged modern trap and electronic production with R&B vocals and drugged out lyrics based on the last few years of Abel's life. It started a whole movement of artists who have given their own takes on the House of Balloons "moody" R&B aesthetic.

He quickly followed it up with two more mixtapes, Thursday and Echoes of Silence, later that year. He later re-released these mixtapes as Trilogy, which was eventually certified as a Platinum record.

In mid-2011, Tesfaye collaborated with Drake on four songs for Drake's sophomore album, Take Care. Tesfaye also performed at OVO Fest and opened for Drake on a few different occasions that year. This all led to Abel Tesfaye signing a record deal with Republic Records and starting his own XO imprint in 2012. The decision came as a surprise to Drake, who had hoped that The Weeknd would join Drake's own OVO imprint, creating tension between the two artists.

The success of his three mixtapes gave Abel the opportunity to travel for the first time in his life. He toured the United States and parts of Europe. The Weeknd took his experiences abroad and channeled them into his studio debut album, Kiss Land. Kiss Land took some of the same lyrical and musical themes as Trilogy, but pushed them in a slightly different direction. Like Trilogy, many of the lyrics focus on Abel's insecurities, heavy drug use, failed relationships, and spending quality time with groupies. That said, this time, as we get closer to the end of the project, Abel blames himself more and more for his inability to create meaningful connections with women.

Though Kiss Land was not met with as much critical acclaim as Trilogy, it still was reviewed in a fairly positive light. The album eventually was certified Gold in the United States.

Over the next few years, The Weeknd became a household name, with singles like "The Hills" and "Can't Feel My Face" topping the Billboard Hot 100. He released his sophomore album, Beauty Behind the Madness, which sold a whopping 400k units in the first week. He collaborated with pop artists like Ariana Grande and Beyoncé. He did a song for the 50 Shades of Gray soundtrack. His signature long haircut became the topic of many internet memes. He was seemingly everywhere.

He followed Beauty Behind the Madness with Starboy in 2016, where he adopted a more 80s-influenced style. This album featured Daft Punk multiple times, and their influence could be seen on many of the rest of the tracks as well. The album was roughly as successful as some of his previous works—it went triple platinum and won a Grammy—but it didn't get as warm of a critical reception as those albums.

Abel was a little quieter after Starboy, releasing mainly guest verses for the next couple of years until he finally released an EP called My Dear Melancholy, in 2018. This was a return to a darker sound for The Weeknd, more in line with some of his work on Trilogy.

Throughout his rise to fame, The Weeknd had a few public relationships with other celebrities. He dated model Bella Hadid and musician Selena Gomez on an off in the years leading to 2020. These relationships had more and more of an effect on his music as he grew older. He admitted that the older he got, the more he wanted a serious relationship over flings with groupies.

This all lead up to 2020, where The Weeknd teased on Twitter that he was working on darker music ("no more daytime music"). He premiered "Blinding Lights" in a Mercedes commercial, and it became the first single for the upcoming album, After Hours. He used his Beats 1 radio show, Momento Mori, to promote the new single, saying that his next album was coming soon. He described this next venture as "a new brain melting psychotic chapter."

And so, on March 20th, After Hours was released.

Track by Track Breakdown by /u/nullplotexception

Alone Again

It's immediately clear that this is going to be one of his most personal albums in a while, as the first song starts with the somber lines "Take off my disguise // I'm living someone else's life". The song starts with The Weeknd singing about how numb he feels and pleading for someone to break his "little cold heart" to remind him who he truly is. The beat crescendos after the end of the first verse, with the drop coming in during the hook while Abel singings about an overdose and worries if he can be alone again. There's many interpretations of what this may all mean, but it sounds to me like the beginning of the track is him hoping that drugs will make him feel some sort of lost euphoria. He ends up taking too much, and finds himself worrying that he can no longer trust himself to be alone as this will lead him on the same path again.

The production on this track is beautiful, starting with eerie synths and lots of texture in the background. As it builds up, it draws the listener into the world of this album. By the end of the song, it sounds like a more typical synth-pop track, with the main hip-hop influence coming from the drums in the hook of the track.

Too Late

The second track starts with Abel asking for forgiveness to a woman and hoping that she'll guide him through some impending darkness. He ends the verse repeating that he's too high and that he's lost it, transitioning to the hook where he says that it's too late to save our souls. It sounds like he's trying to come out of the overdose he sent himself into on "Alone Again" but he needs someone else's help to fully pull himself back. He's paranoid that he's gone too far. He goes on to say that he can't trust where he lives, calling it a hell disguised as a paradise. This further drives in to the theme of him not feeling comfortable in his own life, a theme that was earlier mentioned in the first lines of the introductory song.

This track features more shimmery production than the first. Almost right from the start, there is a booming bass drum and some excellent synth leads, pushing the energy to the max on a lyrically rather dark song.

Hardest to Love

This track focuses more on The Weeknd's love life than the two previous ones. He explains that he's "been the hardest to love," but his partner keeps trying to keep the relationship alive. He says that he "can't believe you trust me," and yet "you still call me up." Throughout the song, there's many lines about his love interest being dead inside but trying to hide it. It sounds like Abel may have pulled out of the tailspin he was in in the last two songs, but is now wondering why his partner decided to stick by his side for this episode. It sounds like the relationship hasn't even benefited that partner, and he has been the problem in their relationship so far.

Again, the theme of Abel not loving being The Weeknd is brought up, as there's a line where he sings that "I don't feel it anymore, this house I bought is not a home".

Scared To Live

The next song starts with Abel lamenting a past relationship, singing about how he should have let her go instead of staying with her and harming her. The track continues down this direction, with Tesfaye admitting that he's "the reason you forgot to love." Towards the end of the track, though, the lyrics start to turn, with Abel singing that he refuses "to be the one who taints your heart" to the same melody as the previously mentioned lyric. He clearly has a lot of regret for things he's done in and out of the relationship and ends the song "praying that you find yourself." He hopes that his ex-girlfriend finds happiness in life, but keeps it vague as to whether he wants that happiness to come as part of a relationship with him or with some other person.

Sonically, this wasn't one of my favorites on the album. The pre-chorus has a nice build, but the song remains pretty simple throughout the actual hook, which sounds a little jarring. Though there's still plenty of synths in the foreground and background of the track, much like the first three songs, it doesn't totally fit the synth-wave style that had been previously established on the album. It sounds a lot jazzier than the rest of the songs here, which obviously isn't a bad thing, but because it doesn't sound as well executed. It doesn't help that the lyrics are a little more vague and unfocused than some of the previous songs.

Snowchild

Abel moves to more of a rap-sung style on this next track. The first verse is almost entirely about his rise to fame. Abel raps that "I'd probably make my wrist bleed" if he didn't make it in music. He goes on to talk about continuing to do drugs as he rose in stature and getting famous to the point where supermodels were star-struck by him. The verse concludes with the line "Cali was the mission but now a nigga leaving." This completes the journey he started on "The Morning," off his debut mixtape House of Balloons, where he sang "Cali is the mission." It's very interesting to see Abel looking at fame from the other side now, almost regretting that he's gotten to this point in the first place. In the next verse, he further explains the more superficial details of his lavish lifestyle, talking about his Mercedes sponsorship and private jets. The song transitions to a mellower chord progression towards to the end, and Abel expands on some of the drawbacks of his success, like dealing with the paparazzi, owning an expensive house that he never sees/doesn't feel like home, and fighting off accusations about plagiarism and homophobia. The song transitions into an outro, where he restates that's he's "leaving," like in the hook. Leaving can mean many things here. Is Abel going to give up fame, drugs, or a relationship? It's not really clarified, but it can definitely mean some combination of this.

This is definitely one of the strongest songs on the album. The beat is rather simple compared to some of the other ones, but it fits with the more rap focused track, allowing for the verses to stand out more.

Escape From LA

Abel goes back to singing more on Escape From LA. He sings about being with a girl who pillow talks about her infidelity. He says that he'll give her space, but adds "Girl, when you're ready, you know where I stay," implying that he's not scared that she'll truly love anyone other than him. He goes on to sing about having "everything that I wanted, but I'd be nothing without you." Abel focuses more on his own life in the hook and the second verse. He pleads in the hook, "take me out LA // take me out of LA." The lack of the word "of" in the first line makes it sound like he's literally asking for his LA party lifestyle to kill him. The song moves to the bridge, where Abel goes back to talking about a girl, presumably the one from the first verse. He tells the story of a girl "pulling up to the studio" and having sex with him in the studio. He concludes the story by saying the girl is all his until her boyfriend calls her line. This is a nice reversal of the first verse, where he's confident that the girl he's talking to will come back to him if he gives her space. Now, it seems that he's the side man and that his love interest found someone better than him. More tragic is that it sounds like she found someone else while he was struggling.

Heartless

Heartless, produced by Metro Boomin, was the lead single for the album, has much in common with many of The Weeknd's past songs. He sings about being heartless, doing drugs, being a low life, not being a man worth wedding, and getting "so much pussy it be falling out the pocket." He comes to regret this life of excess in the bridge, where he admits that he lost his heart and mind, and he wonders why a girl came back into his life. This sounds like a reference to the vignette told in the first few songs, where Abel was in a tailspin and turned to an (ex?)-girlfriend for help.

Faith

The Weeknd wastes no time here, starting the song talking about smoking blunts, doing lines of coke, and rolling, because he "lost his faith." He was "sober for a year", but he's relapsing now. Getting high only makes him lonelier, so he says "If I OD, I want you to OD right beside me." He goes chasing someone from his past, "driving down the boulevard" but not being able to see because he's so high and the streetlights are blinding. He starts to come down, but that only makes his feelings worse. The song ends with Abel being arrested and thrown in the back of a cop car, and he truly hits rock bottom. The sequence draws from when Tesfaye was arrested in Las Vegas for punching a cop.

Blinding Lights

The theme of drunk driving continues on Blinding Lights. The Weeknd, after coming down, begins to have withdrawals. He's comments on the superficiality of Las Vegas, saying that it's a "cold and empty" place to live. This all leads to him falling back into his old habits. This again makes him lonely and desperate, so he goes in search of his past girlfriend once more, this time to try and talk to her and express his love for her. Still, he has a hard time driving because the street lights are so bright, and his eyes are sensitive from taking MDMA and other similar drugs.

The addictively catchy hook, nostalgic synths, and booming bass made it one of the hottest of songs of the year, and it charted in the top 10 for more than 40 weeks.

In Your Eyes

The Weeknd examines both his own and his partner's infidelity in their relationship. He pretends he can't see her cheating and that he's in the dark. He doesn't want to get hurt, since he feels like he's already at rock bottom and he "can't take a loss." He can see that he cheated in her eyes, but he ignores it. He admits that he's also "tried to find love in someone else," and that he can tell that his girlfriend is also hurt by it.

Save Your Tears

The story of the last song continues here, where Abel ends up breaking off the relationship because of each person's cheating. At first, his ex seems happy that it's over, but when she sees him at a bar, all the pain of the relationship returns, causing her to get uncomfortable with the situation and leave. He wants to tell her he gave up on the relationship because his heart was broken by someone else, and that he now he realizes that he should have stayed committed. He ends up giving up hope, and admits that she "deserves someone better." He thinks that he's not even worth her sorrow and he tells her to "save your tears for another day."

Repeat After Me (Interlude)

This interlude concludes the story arch from the last two songs. Abel's ex-girlfriend tries to move on, but she can't fully commit to her new boyfriend because she's still thinking of him. He points out that she's just treating her new boyfriend like he treated her, making her new relationship as doomed as the previous one.

The song is produced by Kevin Parker, and has a very dark, psychedelic sound. It's a perfect bridge between the jazzier Save Your Tears and the upcoming title track.

After Hours

The climax of the album comes on its title track. Abel sings about an overdose (which he calls a "dream") that almost resulted in his death. He admits that he's doing all of this to himself because he can't live without his ex and ends the first verse with the somber reflection "without you, I can't breathe." Throughout this section of the song, the beat is quieter and has a more ambient feel than any of the previous tracks on the album. After the first verse, it builds up more and more, finally 'dropping' at the beginning of the second verse, where Abel details his "darkest hours." He says that he dated groupies to distract himself from his ex, then he put himself "to sleep" so he could "dream" about being with her once more (again, dreams are used as a metaphor for drugs). The beat continues to build as the hook comes in, with Abel pleading to his ex, "where are you now that I need you most." Finally, there's a bridge, where Abel admits that the failures in the relationship were his own fault. The beat becomes more subdued, and the chorus is sang for one final time, this time with a more forlorn tone.

The instrumental on this track is simple, but beautiful. It becomes louder and softer as the track goes on, underlining Abel's emotions towards the the topics he's singing about. If there's one song on the album that captures the theme of the whole album, it's probably this one.

Until I Bleed Out

The album ends with Abel talking about how he feels "paralyzed" and he wants "it" (likely drugs) out of his life. He sings "I want to cut you out of my dreams // 'Til I'm bleeding out." At this point, it sounds like he's willing to do basically anything to shake his addiction, including harming himself. It's a very sad but appropriate way to end the album, with Abel continuing to spiral out of control.

Conclusion by /u/nullplotexception

So, After Hours is the story of a man who keeps doing drugs to escape his past relationships, but this results in him overdosing and feeling worse as he comes down. He wants to prove to his ex that he won't hurt her if she gives him another chance, but he can't even keep himself sober enough to prove to himself that he's worth loving. He's disappointed in himself and wants to kick his addictions, but isn't certain that he'll be able to do it. The high pitched synths give it a happier sound on first listen, but the lyrics make the songs devastatingly dark.

It's an album that leaves the listener almost wondering if Abel Tesfaye is doing OK as a person, one where the line between art and artist starts to blur as more and more of his personal life is brought into the focus of the music.

Still it's a fantastic album that came out at an interesting time. The album released roughly at the beginning of the COVID-19 lockdown, so many people associate quarantine with this album. It actually was a perfect time for an album of this style to come out, as it focuses on The Weeknd's ability to be alone, while millions of people were forced to distance themselves from their friends for months.

Unsurprisingly, this has been one of the most successful albums of the year, selling 444K units in its first week. Over the past few months, nearly every song has gotten its own music video or official live performance in lieu of the world tour that was originally planned for the album, which has now been postponed over COVID-19 concerns.

It's become one of my personal favorites for how dark and honest it is, and how it uses shimmery production to complement these themes. It's personally my favorite album that's come out this year.

Favorite Lyrics

Oh, oh, oh, how much to light up my star again And rewire all my thoughts? - Alone Again

I never thought I'd be here without you Don't let me drown inside your arms - Too Late

I used to pray when I was sixteen If I didn't make it, then I'd probably make my wrist bleed Not to mislead, turn my nightmares into big dreams - Snowchild

Cali was the mission but now a nigga leaving - Snowchild

She like my futuristic sounds in the new spaceship Futuristic sex, give her Philip K dick - Snowchild

You pillow talk to me about the men who try to get in between us They buy you bags and jewelry, yeah They think your kindness is so weak No, you don't give it up so easy, baby - Escape from LA

But if I OD, I want you to OD right beside me I want you to follow right behind me I want you to hold me while I'm smiling While I'm dying - Faith

You look so happy when I'm not with you - Save Your Tears

My darkest hours Girl, I felt so alone inside of this crowded room Different girls on the floor, distractin' my thoughts of you - After Hours

I wanna cut you outta my dreams - Until I Bleed Out

Discussion Questions

What's your favorite song?

Does the synthy production work for this album, or would you prefer the same lyrics to be sang over the dark R&B beats that The Weeknd became popular singing on?

Where does this album rank among his previous works?

Does this album fulfil Abel's promise of putting out "no more daytime music"?

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[SHOTS FIRED] Iggy Azalea exposes Playboi Carti for allegedly being a negligent father upon the release of Whole Lotta Red

Posted: 25 Dec 2020 09:57 AM PST

For those who aren't aware, Iggy Azalea and Playboi Carti were in a serious relationship and recently had a son together. However, shortly after their son was born, the couple tragically parted ways and there's been some lingering tension between the two.

There were rumors of infidelity based on ambiguous Instagram Stories from Iggy, but it seems like Iggy wanted to bring everything to light right as Whole Lotta Red was set to drop. She tweeted the following:

Too bad you got an album out but can't even come to Christmas with your own son.

Imagine not flying out your family on Christmas but you have the girl you cheated on my my entire pregnancy at your album party and magically me and my son can't come for Christmas any more? TRASH.

This man had a whole family vacation to planned 48hrs ago & I hope this message gets to you girl. Although you hid in a whole closet from my house keeper so it's not like you have any dignity I guess. 👍

To clarify this man was literally at my house last night telling me he loves me. So this is very much NOT me being bitter, it's me not ducking with trifling ass shit that happens at the expense of my son.

And I just woke up and my sons nanny is letting me know now she's seen who this side chick is that you gave her our dog to babysit while you were in town all week with me. And you FaceTimed her without son on the phone. Got me fucked up.

This man was in philly playing PS5 mid pandemic the day my son was born even tho it was a scheduled c section. I had onyx alone completely cause he was my only visitor approved with Covid. We lived together at that time.

Imagine how trash you are to do this to your first born son (includes picture of birth certificate)

And even tho onyx was a PLANNED baby, that we both wanted. On some weirdo shit he has still refused to sign his birth certificate. He's 9months old. Won't even give his son he claims to care so much about his own last name.

BONUS:

Video of Iggy's Friend kicking out Carti's mistress

UPDATE:

I left our house with my son after a fight in may and then when I came back a week later with my son all my personal shit had been locked in a guest bedroom and this bitch had a suitcase already in our house but at the time I didn't know who it was.

We were never allowed back, and so I had to live in an air bnb for months in LA before I could figure out getting a place of my own. This is all while he is supposedly "working on getting his family back" let's talk about it.

Deleted DM: https://i.imgur.com/ptig3DQ.jpg

Deleted Tweet: https://i.imgur.com/3q7XrKN.png

Shout out to u/slappypappywahwah for the deleted DM and Tweet.

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[First Impressions] Playboi Carti - Whole Lotta Red

Posted: 25 Dec 2020 08:33 PM PST

Thoughts? I see the album getting the Die Lit approach with the majority hating the new sound and brash lyrics, but over time more fans starting to love the album for what it is.

I got a lot of favorites but to name a few:

New Tank, Meh, Control, Place, Stop Breathing, New N3on, Vamp Anthem, and Go2DaMoon

Solid 7.5/10 for the first day will probably grow to a 8 over time but I'm happy with what I got. Can't wait to mosh to this shit next year

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Juice WRLD dropping ‘Bad Boy’ featuring Young Thug [prod by Pi’erre Bourne] on 1/15/21, music video directed by Cole Bennett

Posted: 25 Dec 2020 10:06 AM PST

Via Twitter

submitted by /u/SigmarBergmann
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[Fresh] SZA - Hit Different x Good Day (Acoustic)

Posted: 25 Dec 2020 01:12 PM PST

submitted by /u/JayZsAdoptedSon
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Westside Gunn and Mach Hommy squashed their beef on Christmas

Posted: 25 Dec 2020 08:38 AM PST

https://www.instagram.com/p/CJOjiEurACI/

After their long history of rapping with each other in the mid 2010's Mach and west got into some disagreements over a situation with Fahim and West. West didn't want to give Fahim a verse for free and Mach and fahim said fuck griselda. Since then Mach and Benny been taking shots at each other most notably on Easter Gunday. But with this pic we might see a 5 man track with West, Benny, Conway, Fahim, And Mach!

Also I expect Hov to be behind this in some way considering how close hov is with both of them.

"Supposedly it started because Wes wanted to charge Fahim for a verse. Fahim was offended by that and eventually released a diss track.

WSG took some mild shots on twitter calling him a weirdo. Sometime down the road Fahim gave an apology of sorts. Wes sort of accepted it, but sorta still called him weirdo and said he doubted they would ever work together again, but it wasn't a "beef".

Even later WSG tweeted that he would like to work with Mach again.

Somewhere along the way Benny took some shots at Mach on Facebook live or insta or something when a fan said something about him being Mach's inferior replacement.

As far as I know Mach and Conway never weighed in or really said anything about it." From the homie u/faultlessjoint from the gxfr sub

UPDATE: https://i.redd.it/809mlwfpdd761.jpg looks like Fahim was there too

submitted by /u/AVENGEDxGANGSTA
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Kanye West - MAYBE WE CAN MAKE IT TO CHRISTMAS (full mixtape)

Posted: 25 Dec 2020 09:12 AM PST

submitted by /u/lilsuzyearth
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N.W.A. - Express Yourself (Official Video)

Posted: 25 Dec 2020 05:49 PM PST

submitted by /u/Usamah7867
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(Adult Swim Bumps) Christmas With Doom Compilation (2006) - MF Doom hosts and Adult Swim Christmas Eve

Posted: 25 Dec 2020 06:01 PM PST

submitted by /u/deadprezrepresentme
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