#NewMusicAlert 🚨🚨 My New Song 'Dream World' Drops at midnight Friday!! Link in my bio to presave! Cover made by my beautiful and talented fiance. So excited to finally get this outta the vault! A little background info on this song I produced and engineered it myself.
a few words… thank you God for waking me up & giving me another opportunity to do something impactful while i’m here. i’m always asking to be used but this season was about trying to pour some of that back into myself & my family, and shedding any parts of myself that needed to be let go. transformation isn’t always pretty but it’s been necessary. i pray this reaches whoever it needs to reach. helps wherever it’s designed to help. that’s it. it’s been deeply personal, but it’s no longer mine. thank you.
to every artist/person out there, your life & career will hardly ever just be vertical, and the purpose of art goes beyond charts, sales, analytics, algorithms. this shit has its natural & unnatural ups & downs, but the best thing you can do is create things that are honest, so that you never look back & have regrets. everyday you’re breathing you get an opportunity to reintroduce yourself & put something meaningful out into the world. do the work. have fun doing it. everything else is a bonus.
you are 100% responsible for your music career not taking off
and that is actually the best news you will ever hear because it means you are 100% in control of fixing it too
You don’t quit music. You may take a break, you may start to find a new sound, you may not touch it for a year, but you’ll always come back to it I promise. ❤️
The Weeknd was raised primarily by his single mother who worked multiple jobs
.
He once expressed wishing for a brother as a child because he felt lonely growing up as an only child.
.
Worked a regular retail job folding and selling clothes at American Apparel in Toronto right before his music breakthrough
.
His grandmother, who survived Ethiopia's Red Terror period, taught him Amharic as his first language and played a huge role in his early upbringing while his mom worked long hours
.
He sticks to a mostly plant based diet and enjoys sour watermelons, gummy bears, Twizzlers, sour candies, pizza, tacos, and nachos.
.
Originally wanted his stage name to be "The Weekend" but dropped the "e" because a Canadian rock band already had that name.
.
He has said he feels guilty about the public attention his high profile relationships bring to his partners and has expressed a desire to eventually start a family and have children.
.
.
.
.
You see, Weeknd really did stick to his roots and used that background to build his professional career. I mean, he has the record for having the biggest grossing tour at $1billion and first artist to have over 30 songs to cross a billion streams each on Spotify.
But what struck me the most is the fact that he maintained his Ethiopian discipline and roots. His grandmother brought him up while his mother was busy with work hours to provide for the family.
It's a very good thing and when a person connects with his roots so much, that person would get an inspiration that can't be gotten from any other place.
So don't ever forget where you are coming from. You need that constant connection to stay in tune and to get an inspiration that can't be gotten from anywhere else.
Happy birthday to the Weeknd once again.
.
.
.
✍️ Vincent the Therapist
I don’t go to the studio to “create” per se. I go to record. When I’m living my life, whether that’s driving, showering, playin video games, working out, etc is when I actually create because my subconscious is free. My brain is occupied just enough to get out of its own way so that melodies and lyrics just bubble up effortlessly without any pressure. I compile voice memos of melody ideas and notes of one liners and when I feel equipped enough, I go to the studio to execute. If I go to the studio and just start from scratch tryna make something, I’m usually pretty unsuccessful. Feels too serious and contrived. Gather inspiration throughout your day to day and after a while you’ll always have a starting point to enter the studio with.
12 years ago today, the weeknd released his debut studio album 'kiss land' 💿🔥
the project debuted at no. 2 on the billboard 200 with 95k first-week sales, topped the r&b/hip-hop chart, and even hit no. 1 on the uk r&b albums chart. in 2019, it was certified gold in the u.s. for moving over 500k units 💿
what’s your favorite track?
In 2013, Russ was making $48.66 per month from his music.
By 2020, he was posting screenshots of $100k weekly checks from TuneCore.
In 2022, he was so successful he REJECTED a $50M catalog offer.
Here's how Russ built the most profitable independent rap career in history: 🧵
Upcoming artists : don’t waste the moments where your everyday life IS the story. When you’re broke, driving an old beat up car that has a fucked up alignment, working a regular job, drinking gas station wine, living at your parents house, just describing your life is instantly relatable. You don’t have to dig deep yet. That raw accessibility disappears once success hits. All of a sudden your lifestyle is not the common experience anymore. Use your now. Your present is the best writing partner you’re gonna have (till you get a therapist) 😂😂
MY NEW ALBUM DROPS JUNE 27
HERE IS THE TRACKLIST
1. USER GUIDE
2. GO UP
3. MOVIN
4. LA LA LA
5. APRIL 7
6. CRAZY
7. PENT UP IN A PENTHOUSE
8. GETTIN TO IT
9. TRYING
10. SUPERMAN
11. HOW’D YOU DO IT
12. TELL ME WHO
13. WORRIED
14. EMBRACE
15. RIGHT NOW
16. FOREVER
17. CYCLONE
18. WEST
19. LONELY ROAD