The Weeknd has another hit album on his hands with Starboy. His last album, Beauty Behind the Madness, was a huge success too, and now Starboy has debuted at #1 on Billboard for its first week of sales. What’s interesting about The Weeknd – real name Abel Tesfaye – is that he really doesn’t go a traditional route to promote his music. As in, he’s not doing tons of magazine interviews or music-industry press. He only did a handful of interviews for Beauty, and this Guardian interview is one of the few extensive sit-downs I’ve read with Abel so far. You can read the full Guardian piece here – a Guardian journalist traveled to Rotterdam to spend hours in Abel’s hotel room, listening to him talk sh-t about drugs, hair and music. Some highlights:

Being able to wear hats again after cutting off his dreads: “I think I felt a single tear come down my cheek.”

His height (he’s 5’7”): “Thinking about putting lifts in my sneakers… Guess I’ve been hanging out with too many supermodels.”

Whether he thinks his lyrics are misogynistic or callous: “Oh, for sure… The mind of a 19-year-old is very different from the mind of a 26-year-old. You grow. You get into better relationships. You experience more, meet more people, better people. But when you’re in a dark hole, at an earlier point in your life – you write about the mindset you’re in at that moment. I don’t think I’d ever apologise for music I make, no. But there are regrets in my life, of course. And you write about it.”

Whether he ever thought about going into therapy: “No. Definitely not. I think that’s more when you’re privileged, you know? Going to a therapist is not something you do when you’re growing up as a street kid in Toronto.” He wriggles in his seat. “Sorry, bro.”

His drug use: “When I had nothing to do but make music, it was very heavy. Drugs were a crutch for me. There were songs on my first record that were seven minutes long, rambling – whatever thoughts I was having when I was under the influence at the time. I can’t see myself doing that now…I’ll be completely honest with you. The past couple of albums, I do get back to that… Even on this new album. You have writer’s block. And sometimes you’re like, I can’t do this sober.” He recalls how, back in February, he decided to call off a summer tour in Europe to write the new record. “I cancelled it and something happened to my inspiration. I guess it was the weight on my shoulders. I’d cancelled a tour – a lot of money. I had these ideas, but I couldn’t put them on wax. If you were a psychologist, you’d probably tell me there was stress in my life, taking away from my work.” So what happened? “I had to get that little jump.” In the studio, out came the weed, the Hennessy, probably a few more things. “And the ball started rolling. And then I didn’t need it any more.” I ask if there’s a dark version of all of this, a version where at some point he’s not able not to turn to drugs. “Right now, I feel in control,” Tesfaye answers, frankly. “Where it takes me after, I don’t know.”

[From The Guardian]

I know The Weeknd has been accused of sexism or misogynoir, but from what I can tell… his lyrics are no better or worse than most of the younger male musical acts – the musical acts that aren’t trying to be straight-up pop music. Part of The Weeknd’s appeal is that while this album and the last album were billed as straight pop music, he’s still got that dirty edge he had when he was just making music for himself. I don’t know. I also take his point that how he felt about women when he was 19 isn’t the same as how he feels about them at 26. As for the drug stuff… I hope he keeps his eye on that. That’s another thing that should shift as a person gets older, where you don’t need drugs or alcohol to sleep/create/take the edge off. But it sounds like he still needs it. Ugh.

Photos courtesy of WENN.