With the impending doom of AI-generated music, the Weeknd isn't sure he's needed anymore. The artist born Abel Tesfaye is working on the 2009-founded project's "last hurrah" — and afterwards, he wants to "kill the Weeknd."
In a new interview with W Magazine, Tesfaye and his The Idol co-star Lily-Rose Depp gave an in-depth discussion of the way they brought the pop game to life onscreen for the forthcoming HBO series, as well as the real-life musician's plans to get out of it in the near future.
"I'm going through a cathartic path right now," he told journalist Lynn Hirschberg of his foray into television, having fallen in love with cinema in high school and crediting films like The Mask and Jurassic Park for helping him write better songs.
"The visuals are vital to my career," the Torontonian explained, reflecting on everything from his intensely cinematic music videos to his hair. Transferring that energy into the "new creative muscle" of film and TV is helping him let go of the past.
"It's getting to a place and a time where I'm getting ready to close the Weeknd chapter," the singer-songwriter continued. "I'll still make music, maybe as Abel, maybe as the Weeknd. But I still want to kill the Weeknd. And I will. Eventually. I'm definitely trying to shed that skin and be reborn."
Tesfaye added, "The album I'm working on now is probably my last hurrah as the Weeknd. This is something that I have to do. As the Weeknd, I've said everything I can say."
No less than the world's most popular artist, the Weeknd's latest album remains last year's excellent Dawn FM — one of the best of 2022. If he's throwing in the towel to any degree, it's safe to say he'll be doing so at the top of his game. (Aside from those "torture porn" allegations about The Idol's on-set environment, anyway.)
In a new interview with W Magazine, Tesfaye and his The Idol co-star Lily-Rose Depp gave an in-depth discussion of the way they brought the pop game to life onscreen for the forthcoming HBO series, as well as the real-life musician's plans to get out of it in the near future.
"I'm going through a cathartic path right now," he told journalist Lynn Hirschberg of his foray into television, having fallen in love with cinema in high school and crediting films like The Mask and Jurassic Park for helping him write better songs.
"The visuals are vital to my career," the Torontonian explained, reflecting on everything from his intensely cinematic music videos to his hair. Transferring that energy into the "new creative muscle" of film and TV is helping him let go of the past.
"It's getting to a place and a time where I'm getting ready to close the Weeknd chapter," the singer-songwriter continued. "I'll still make music, maybe as Abel, maybe as the Weeknd. But I still want to kill the Weeknd. And I will. Eventually. I'm definitely trying to shed that skin and be reborn."
Tesfaye added, "The album I'm working on now is probably my last hurrah as the Weeknd. This is something that I have to do. As the Weeknd, I've said everything I can say."
No less than the world's most popular artist, the Weeknd's latest album remains last year's excellent Dawn FM — one of the best of 2022. If he's throwing in the towel to any degree, it's safe to say he'll be doing so at the top of his game. (Aside from those "torture porn" allegations about The Idol's on-set environment, anyway.)