One of my old Hertel Avenue teenage partners in crime proclaimed the other day on Facebook that "R&B is dead!" and while I couldn't help but agree, I had to get his read on The Weeknd because he knows his business. "I like the Weeknd, but the genre is dead" Carlos responded, and again I had to agree. Glossy but shoddy production and execution, with juvenile content and Auto-Tune has reduced contemporary r&b to a parody of itself, and that's a damn shame considering the history of that once vibrant offshoot of soul. But out of the ashes of contemporary r&b there have been some intriguing developments: the Daptone Records label's resurrection of pure soul; the arrival of Frank Ocean and his embrace by indie music fans; and out of the after hours parties and champagne rooms of Toronto we got The Weeknd.
Over the span of three critically acclaimed mixtapes released for free via the web last year, The Weeknd stunned listeners with louche subject matter, an artfully skeevy vibe, piercing introspection, progressive production sure to catch the ears of indie fans, and the kind of smooth R&B falsetto that regrettably went out of fashion with contemporary R&B playlists. Everything came together perfectly, and just when you thought the first mixtape House of Balloons was an all hype shenanigan ala Lana Del Rey, the follow up installment Thursday pushed the envelope and art on display further, before the emotionally supercharged coupe de grace and conclusion of the mixtape trilogy, Echoes of Silence. Taken as a whole, The Weeknd's trilogy of mixtapes was a remarkably daring and cohesive artistic statement from an unsigned artist operating from the shadows of Toronto's party scene.
There was also a refreshing darkness to the whole Weeknd operation as it flaunted this age of over-sharing and FourSquare by keeping everything hush hush and on the sly like the night world that is it's subject matter. The Weeknd also social media not only for hype but to also build a refreshing air of elusiveness and elicit mystery, so much so that the identities of the parties involved were subject to intense speculation until we got a name to go with the tales of excess, grudge sex, drugs, and bleary eyed fallout: Abel Tesfaye.
But the notoriously publicity shy Tesfaye still managed to keep it mysterious, hiding in hazy photographs, up until recently staying out of the promotional material, and sparingly doling out the live performances (and skipping Buffalo, infuriatingly), all the while promising an eventual official release of his trilogy of mixtapes, a release that lands in stores and on iTunes November 13th. Remastered and including three new songs, The Weeknd's Trilogy will also be the steal of the year as buyers will be getting three discs for the price of one; a rare bird indeed in this day and age and a "must get" in this crazy economy- especially considering all three discs are exceptional and devoid of filler. The "ideal stocking stuffer" this upcoming holiday season? Absolutely, especially for freaks, indie music fans, and folks mourning the death of R&B... and not averse to getting nasty.
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