The hip-hop community is continuing to produce leadership and initiative over African-American issues, with The Weeknd reportedly donating $250,000 to the Black Lives Matter Movement, according to The Fader.
The donation comes just a week after singer and producer Abel Tesfaye made a donation of $50,000 to Toronto University, specifically to be used in the growth in the Ethiopic Studies programe.
https://twitter.com/theweeknd/status/762074393639989248
Describing itself as a “chapter-based national organization working for the validity of black life”, the BLM movement has a branch based in Toronto, presumably influencing The Weeknd’s decision to open his pocket.
The Weeknd first spoke on the issue of police brutality back in July after the shootings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castille, Tweeting that it was time for people to “do something about it.”
https://twitter.com/theweeknd/status/751143423965425668
With this latest donation, The Weeknd has joined a growing list of hip-hop figures raising awareness about the seriousness of treatment of African-American citizens around the US.
Lately One Sixth, ASAP Rocky and the ever-outspoken Killer Mike have also contributed to the discussion around police brutality, with The Game and Snoop Dogg also holding a forum between gangs in order to help foster harmony throughout the inner circles of the black community.
There’s also the fact that Kendrick Lamar dropped one of the most influential pieces of art on the issue last year in the form of To Pimp A Butterfly.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnYCwQcryyc
Hopefully The Weeknd’s generous donation will be put to productive use.
Image: The rap-up
It’s always great to see artists or high profile celebrities giving back to their community, reshaping the youth who could one day go on to achieve the same greatness as them. Grammy award winning Toronto native Abel Tesfaye aka The Weeknd certainly sees it that way too, and has decided to make a huge donation to his hometown’s university.
Contributing $50,000 to the University of Toronto specifically for an Ethiopic studies program, Tesfaye doesn’t just care about his community, he also cares about his past and the ancestry of those around him. The Weeknd’s parents both emigrated from Ethiopia and therefore he obviously has strong ties to his origins.
https://twitter.com/theweeknd/status/762074393639989248?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
The University were obviously amazed at the positive response they received when they reached out to the pop star asking for monetary help. Tam Gebeyehu, board member of the Bikila Award, those in charge of the Ethiopian studies said that it’s unbelievable. “He grew up in Toronto as an Ethiopian-Canadian, and now he’s giving back to the community. His donation helps us preserve our culture and share it with everyone else.”
It’s certainly an amazing cause for The Weeknd to have contributed to, and therefore, it’s a serious hat tip to the modern R&B king.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzTuBuRdAyA
Image: Billboard
Well this was a pleasant surprise appearance. During The Weeknd‘s set at The Met Gala, a pretty special guest appeared; Nas. It was halfway through the performance of the Canadian singer’s 2015 hit Tell Your Friends that Nas entered from backstage, wearing what appeared to be a bathrobe. But hey, people have worn weirder things to The Met Gala:
Kanye, why? (Image: Getty Images)
Nas rapped a verse in what appeared to be an extremely rare remix of last year’s track. And ultimately, it was really good! The verse was a strong effort from the Brooklyn-born rapper, and The Weeknd’s voice was incredible as always.
It was a pretty big deal for The Weeknd to be headlining the ball, with the amount of huge-name artists there, including Lady Gaga, Kanye West (see above), Beyoncé (queeeeeeeen) and Taylor Swift. And he did a really good job, steadily pumping out his biggest hits with ease.
That said, no one will be happier with this performance than fans of juxtaposition. Honestly, the first time I watched the video was through tears of laughter. Seeing a very smartly dressed guy with ridiculous pineapple hair croon the words “Give me head all night/I come four times” to a room full of the world’s biggest celebrity names will always be hilarious, no matter the context. C’mon guys, you can’t make this shit up.
Images: Getty Images/Bluntiq
Eminem has been in rare form during his time at Lollapalooza Brazil, unexpectedly performing his remix of The Weeknd’s, The Hills.
In October last year, Eminem tweeted his remix of the popular song, saying that it was “too good to pass up,” which is a rare move for the rapper, who doesn’t make a habit of remixing pop songs. Both he and Nicki Minaj injected their own unique flavours to the hit song on a jointly released pair of remixes.
While performing at Lollapalooza over the weekend, the Detroit rapper decided to perform his remix of The Hills live. Although the move was definitely unexpected, as with his extensive discography, Eminem definitely doesn’t need to dip into his lesser known tracks to please fans, it was none the less a crowd favourite, with the large audience singing along to the chorus and Eminem’s verses.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nukuyyjd-Rc
This hasn’t been the only surprise performance by Shady at the Brazilian festival, with him performing Fack, from the compilation album Curtain Call: The Hits, live for the first time ever. The song was by no means anyone’s favourite, being stored in the back of fans collective memories, along with Drips and a good 50% of the Encore album, but nevertheless, stans love their deep cuts, and the track was met with wild cheers.
With Eminem scheduled to perform at the Lollapalooza festivals in both Argentina and Chile, it will be interesting to see if he chooses to perform any other unexpected tracks during his upcoming performances.
It’s perhaps not too surprising that the rapper has decided to mix things up a little. While he’s obviously not lacking in hits to perform, it might still be a nice break to showcase songs he has never played live before, insuring his performances remain fresh for both the audience and himself.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5ENO6ftxg4
Image: xxlmag
It was one of the most anticipated performances of the Grammys last week, but one that sadly fell through at the last minute – Lauryn Hill and The Weeknd performing the latter’s latest single, In The Night. Due to complications out of her control regarding flight times and simply not being able to get there in time, Ms. Hill was unable to perform, and whilst The Weeknd pulled off the performance seamlessly on his own, it was safe to say there were more than a few fans around the world who really wanted this performance to happen. Well, now those fans can rejoice.
As The Weeknd smashed through a stripped back rendition of his track, he suddenly and surprisingly introduced none other than Ms Lauryn Hill to the stage and naturally, the performance was taken to a whole new level. A cacophony of noise roared from the small orchestra playing the track as The Weeknd and Hill gave their absolute all when it came to their vocal performances. Heartfelt, enthralling and just so fucking cool, this is definitely one of the more memorable TV performances we have been privy to in quite some time- and will probably remain that way for some time in the future too.
The Weeknd picked up two Grammy awards last week for Best Urban Contemporary Album and Best R&B Performance, and will undoubtedly see even more success this year than he already has, with 2015 being the biggest year for him to date. As long as more performances like this are on the cards, we hope!
Image: Billboard
In the lead-up to the Grammy Awards, one of the most exciting rumours being spread around was that neo-soul legend Lauryn Hill was to be performing on stage with The Weeknd. It was set to be two decades since she last performed at the ceremony – right around when The Fugees’ album The Score first came out.
However, as the ceremony took place yesterday, Hill was evidently not there. While many assumed that the rumours had simply been untrue, it has now been revealed that Hill was indeed supposed to perform – she just didn’t show up on time.
A representative of the singer explained that she was “uncertain she would even be able to make it to LA in time to rehearse for the event.” Furthermore, DJBooth report that Hill did in fact attend a dress rehearsal with The Weeknd, but that she simply didn’t show up when it came time for the actual show.
“Lauryn Hill was someone that The Weeknd felt would be great to collaborate with. He reached out, had conversations, we actually had some rehearsals off site that she didn’t attend. Then we had a dress rehearsal [Sunday] that she did attend. When it came to actual showtime we were told that she was late – one minute, three minutes, seven minutes, she didn’t make it. She didn’t make the performance, didn’t get into the building on time. I know if I have to be someplace on time I make sure I figure it out, but credit to The Weekend. He’s a great artist, a new artist. He was planning something, but plans change and he killed it.”
It’s sad to say, but I’m not surprised. While I’m one of the biggest Lauryn Hill fans out there, her antics haven’t exactly been professional in recent years.
Anyway, it doesn’t matter, because The Weeknd still killed it – as did King Kendrick.
The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show is good for a few things. Destroying a woman’s self esteem, providing a brief burst of motivation to eat right and exercise (emphasis on brief), and finding humour in watching the selected artists dodge overzealous angel wings and try not to stare at the model’s asses (both of which Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber were terrible at doing). This year saw Selena Gomez, The Weeknd and Ellie Goulding take the runway- in what could possibly be one of the show’s most successful years, musically.
Both Goulding and The Weeknd performed two songs (Army/Love Me Like You Do, and In The Night/Can’t Feel My Face, respectively), but it was Selena Gomez’ performance that stirred the most after-show commotion. The singer performed a medley of her hits Hands To Myself and My Girls on the runway, where both her outfit and vocal skills were impeccably on point. So on point, however, that VS fans took to Instagram to vent their frustration over what they perceived was a lip-synced performance.
Past fashion shows have seen all performers sing live, and Gomez’ performance- while remarkably spot on- doesn’t sound any different. Perhaps it would have been better if she did lip sync though, there would be less to envy.
Check out the performance below, and try not to cry:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTtoxL9yeXU&w=560&h=315]
As the year slowly winds down, we can’t help but feel there is a last-minute surge in quality music output; artists not wanting the year to get away from them just yet and still releasing the goods until the very bitter end. One such artist could be The Weeknd, who, just a few days out from 2016, has just released one of the most action-packed clips of the year for his new single, In The Night.
Taken off his superb new album, Beauty Behind The Madness, In The Night is a pop ballad of sorts, where The Weeknd – aka Abel Tesfaye – sings of his love for a stripper who “dances to relieve the pain”. It’s typically tinged with that sinister, druggy feel that The Weeknd has become known for, and is one of the more straight-and-narrow pop songs that he’s put his name to in recent times. It’s also just a really big track, and therefore deserves a really BIG clip – and now it’s got it.
Directed by duo BRTHR, this video is more of a mini-movie than anything. Featuring murderous strippers finally getting revenge on their obsessed, reptile-carrying clients, there are a lot of guns, a lot of blood and a lot of supermodel Bella Hadid. Hadid, who is actually The Weeknd’s girlfriend ~IRL~, becomes an ultra badass, slitting throats and shooting guys in the backs of their head, before driving off into the night on the back of Abel’s motorcycle – red leather jacket and all.
Whether it’s a tale of a feminist uprising against the male gaze and the subsequent objectification of themselves (probably not) or just a fully sick clip with the theatrics turned up to 11, there is no doubt that this clip is definitely one of the best of this year. Watch it for yourself below!
Last weekend saw Halloween fever consume the United States, with the annual celebration of the spooky and spectacular resulting, yet again, in a swathe of impressive celebrity costumes. Mac DeMarco was Darth Maul, Chvrches‘ Lauren Mayberry was Edward Scissorhands and Justin Bieber was Jackie Moon from the Will Ferrell film Semi-Pro (which I have to admit, albeit reluctantly, is quite a funny costume). Basketball star LeBron James was another who committed wholeheartedly to the Halloween spirit, donning a full Prince outfit and attempting a cover of Purple Rain at the Cleveland Cavaliers’ party.
https://instagram.com/p/9dbay6gvno/
One of the standouts, however, was Parks & Recreation star Aziz Ansari, whose take on The Weeknd was about as entertaining as you’d expect it to be. Complete with leather jacket and that characteristic birds-nest hairstyle, Ansari’s costume was spot on. What’s more, he uploaded a video to Instagram in which he lip-syncs perfectly to The Weeknd’s smash-hit single, The Hills. Treat yo’ self to that little gem right here:
https://instagram.com/p/9jEPa_yREy/
Last month The Hills was remixed by both Eminem and Nicki Minaj, inserting their respective attitudes into the seductive single. I’d still rather hear Tom Haverford lay down a verse, though.
The Weeknd is taking a leaf out of Foals and Jack White‘s books, delving into the world of 360 degree interactive technology with the new video for the Eminem-featuring remix of his whopper hit The Hills. A collaboration with Apple Music and GoPro, the video allows the viewer to take control of their experience by rotating the video using the A/S/W/D keys or their mouse, enabling a multi-angled view of the video.
This video shares similarities with The Hills‘ original clip, showing the singer walking out of a building and parking lot, leaving a burning car ahead of him. Flaming meteors are also raining down around him – you can play around with the angles to get a better view. As the video progresses starts to get weird, with large flaming phoenixes pouring out of a car – symbolic for something, probably.
The short clip falls just under the two minute mark, just long enough for Eminem’s heavy-hitting first verse.
https://twitter.com/theweeknd/status/653673994240004100
The remix splashed onto the scene last week, adding even more gusto to the chart-dominating hit (it’s currently in its fifth week at the top of the Billboard charts). As well as the Eminem remix came a stunning redux from Nicki Minaj, which once again reinstated the fact that her rap skills are unparalleled, and something we’ll hopefully here more of in the future.
Check out the weird but wonderful video below, and the track in full:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fhjdtQDcOo&w=560&h=315]
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqfJ8PfVSHA&w=420&h=315]