The Weeknd has hinted in the past that he doesn’t want to record as The Weeknd anymore, and now the artist born Abel Tesfaye is saying straight up that he wants to eradicate his alter ego for good.
Speaking to Variety, Weeknd is asked what he means when he says “closing this chapter.” He clarifies that he means closing this chapter on “my existence as the Weeknd.”
He adds, “It’s a headspace I’ve got to get into that I just don’t have any more desire for … you have a persona, but then you have the competition of it all. It becomes this rat race: more accolades, more success, more shows, more albums, more awards and more No. 1s. It never ends until you end it.”
He adds, referring to the name of his upcoming album, “Hurry Up Tomorrow? Now we’re here. When is the right time to leave, if not at your peak? Once you understand who I am too much, then it’s time to pivot.”
However, that doesn’t mean Abel is going to quit music entirely.
“Everything needs to feel like a challenge,” he says of making music. “And for me right now, the Weeknd, whatever that is, it’s been mastered. No one’s gonna do the Weeknd better than me, and I’m not gonna do it better than what it is right now. I think I’ve overcome every challenge as this persona … but I just want to know what comes after.”
In addition to the new album, due out in January, Weeknd will also star in a film of the same name, arriving May 16. It co-stars Jenna Ortega and Barry Keoghan, and Variety says it “continues the After Hours theme of a character struggling with his sense of self and delves deeply into the psychology of fame.”
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