The Weeknd, also known as the Guinness World Record's 2023 "world's most popular artist," is continuing to tease the beginning of his new era on social media. Yesterday (July 2), the artist born Abel Tesfaye posted a cryptic Instagram carousel that included a short video of just his eyes and a photograph of a silhouette in the woods, which you can check out below.
Fans have long been speculating about how this upcoming album fits into the After Hours/Dawn FM trilogy. These theories were sparked when Tesfaye tweeted in 2020, "I wonder... did you know you're experiencing a new trilogy?"
The stakes are high for this upcoming album. The Weeknd's 2020 track "Blinding Lights" from After Hours was a smash hit, becoming the first song to surpass four billion streams on Spotify. Can the Weeknd pull off this feat for a second time on this new album?
Tesfaye hasn't been completely inactive between these album rollouts. After the abysmal failure of HBO's The Idol, in which he starred and produced, Tesfaye recently took a jab at Drake by hopping on Metro Boomin's diss track despite swearing off features last April. Tesfaye also donated $2.5 million USD to help families in Gaza via his XO Humanitarian Fund in both April 2024 and November 2023.
