The Weeknd Speaks On His First Reaction After Listening To Usher's Climax
10 April 2020
by Kabura Ng'ang'a
When The Weeknd stepped on to the scene, it was with a unique sound that defied the classification into pop or RnB. His first widely streamed mixtape, ‘House of Balloons’ (2011) had experimental pop sound and a laid back pitchy RnB sound. The Weeknd’s voice added to the genre-defying music by being very non-conventional in the sense that it had range on the high-pitch. His sound was heavy drum bass on counts and strong tuned electric riffs layered on a smooth and laid back piano.
His alternative sound and voice was of course going to inspire a new generation of artists who sound like him and that he was ready for. The Weeknd sat down with Variety to discuss what he was not prepared for at the time.
The Weeknd, on the interview is reminiscent of the first time he listened to Usher’s ‘Climax’. The Weeknd states that the first thing that came to mind was, “that is a Weeknd song.”
Usher is one of the OGs in RnB and he has been in the game across 3 decades now and he is still serving us good music. When ‘Climax’ was released, it was very alternative and experimental for him but only in the context of the sound.
The Weeknd was not ready for the fact that he would inspire a new sound for people who were already in the game. He says that made him angry but at the same time happy and hopeful that he was doing something right. Later on, the anger changed as he later on realized that he was really doing something good.
Read the rest of the interview on Variety’s website and listen to The Weeknd’s album ‘After Hours’ on all streaming sites.
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