It may have the fourth best-selling album of the year.
But The Weeknd is already thinking about the next big project.
Successful 30-year-old producer After Hours recently revealed to TMRW special edition that both the Black Lives Matter and COVID-19 movement will inspire his next album.
As his planned After Hours tour was postponed until the summer of 2021, he said: “I was more inspired and creative during the pandemic than I could normally be on the road.
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“I was more inspired and creative”: Weeknd recently revealed to TMRW zine that both the Black Lives Matter movement and COVID-19 will inspire his next album.
“The pandemic, the Black Lives Matter movement and the tensions of the elections have mostly created a sense of gratitude for what I have and the closeness to the people around me.”
Speaking of his unmistakable vocal skills, he said he was inspired by growing Ethiopian music before switching with his albums to describe different parts for himself.
“As I got older, I was exposed to more music, and my voice became a chameleon that goes into different characters with each album. Following my own path and breaking the rules of the industry, it seems to influence others, ‘he said.
Huge deal: A Black Lives Matter protest seen in Los Angeles in May
“He seems to influence others”: Speaking of his unmistakable vocal skills, he said he was inspired by growing Ethiopian music before switching to his albums to portray different parts of himself, as seen. in a Christmas selfie last week
Speaking about his career, the Starboy singer said: “At that time I was laser focused and I am laser focused right now”, as he called the “story” of the twenties.
“I feel like I’ve spent the last 10 years creating a sound, and most of my career I’ve either run away from it or duplicated it,” he said.
There have been some interesting weeks for the star, last month, the Toronto star called the Grammys “corrupt” after being bogged down in nominations.
Taking to social media, he wrote to the organizers: “You owe it to me, my fans and the transparency of the industry …
Insiders said the Can’t Feel My Face artist’s camp suspected that the lack of nominations was responsible for the unpleasant back and forth on the fact that he would play in the Super Bowl.
The artist, whose full name is Abel Tesfaye, released the album After Hours in March on strong sales and reviews and won the Favorite Music – Soul / R & B album at the American Music Awards last Sunday.
Acting Head of Recording Academy Harvey Mason, jr. responded to the singer’s public complaints in a statement to Rolling Stone.
“We understand that Weeknd is disappointed that he is not nominated,” he said. “I was surprised and I can empathize with how he feels. His music this year has been excellent, and his contributions to the music community and the world are worthy of everyone’s admiration. ‘
“Grammys remain corrupt”: Weeknd recently spoke amid reports of difficult discussions about his Super Bowl performance that could have caused him to be bogged down in nominations; seen in 2019
Speaking: Weeknd did not stop when he wrote a note to the Grammys organizers on social networks since then
Mason continued: “We would have liked to present him on the Grammy stage the weekend before the Super Bowl.]Unfortunately, every year there are fewer nominations than the number of artists he deserves.
“To be clear, the vote in all categories ended long before The Weeknd’s performance in the Super Bowl was announced, so in no case could it have affected the nomination process. All Grammy nominees are recognized by the voting body for their excellence and we congratulate them all. ‘
Asked by Variety about closing The Weeknd, Mason said at the time: “It really comes down to the voting body that decides.
Details: Grammy organizers asked him to take the stage at Super Bowl LV before giving in and deciding he could do both
‘We have eight slot nominations to complete [the Big Four categories: Best Album, Song, Record and New Artist], five in others, and voters vote for their favorites. However, it is very interesting.
Mason opened up about the process Grammy officials are taking to find out which artists are nominated and in which categories.
“We look at it every year and make changes and revisions to the process; we did it this year, last year, we will do it next year. And I don’t think that’s questioning him, honestly, “Mason said.” The process is there so we can continue to monitor excellence. “
Weeknd previously took the best contemporary urban album for Starboy in 2018.
Popular: The artist, whose full name is Abel Tesfaye, won the album Favorite – Soul / R & B at the American Music Awards last Sunday