One of the biggest complaints from OG Weeknd fans is that the Starboy has gone way too pop since his House of Balloons days in 2011. You know, back when he was this dark and depressed enigmatic singer sniffing the pain away while having wild orgies with a couple of glass table girls. Yeah, those songs made for great listens, but if you want the old Weeknd then buy his old albums because Abel doesn’t give not an iota of a damn about the criticism.
GQ spoke with the “King of Sex Pop” about critics wanting Trilogy Weeknd back and the state of Pop music around the time he was making his magnum opus. When asked how he felt about the genre in 2011, Abel said he “hated” it, but then an interesting thing happened. “The sound of Trilogy became pop music,” he added.
The Weeknd knows about “those purists who will be like, ‘Okay, this guy is too popular, this f*ckin’ sounds nothing like Trilogy, so this f*ckin’ sucks,’” but it doesn’t make him want to revisit his earlier sounds. “I don’t care at all,” the singer responded when asked if he cared about being criticized for being too popular.
For what it’s worth, the depravity is still there in the lyrics, word to tracks like “Ordinary Life.” It’s just set to a much more upbeat instrumental.
Read the rest of the interview here. It has good stuff like smashing groupies no longer doing it for him and why he sees himself being a baby daddy first and a husband later.
