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How the Weeknd Went From Broke in Canada to Sharing Stage With Taylor Swift  

BY SIMON VOZICK-LEVINSON

    Before he was The Weeknd, he was just Abel Tesfaye. A singer and producer. He was just shy and awkward. Rejecting interviews at times well being camera shy. He was this way until he dropped his first releases in 2011 of mixtapes. Republic Records flew to The Weeknd and the manager shut him down they said "they had no interest". Republic Records followed him for a year or so then got him to sign with them. That's when he dropped Kissland with this label. There was a time where he was spending more time in Los Angeles. Later on this opened doors for him in the soundtrack for Fifty Shades of Grey which was the song called "Earned It". Ariana Grande and did a duo called "Love Me Harder". From there he started doing collaborations with other artists and the fame grew more. Republic Records opened doors for The Weeknd but he also did. The Weeknd said "At one point, I didn't care." then he said right after "Now I want as many people to hear my music as possible." He soon puts out other songs like"Can't Feel My Face" and "Tell Your Friends" that was co-produced by Kanye West. These just talk about being homeless, nights of substance abuse, and meaningless sex. "The Hills" was a hit also combined with all the other ones. Due to this now he's on stage with Taylor Swift and the audience will know his lyrics, he says "Taylor Swift's audience can listen to me, but so can the street kids. I want to touch it all."

Works Cited

Vozick-Levinson, Simon. “How the Weeknd Went From Broke in Canada to Sharing Stage With Taylor Swift.” RollingStone.com. Web. 02 March 2016.