While none of the album’s other songs topped the charts quite like “Can’t Feel My Face,” the mature rhythm and blues and electronic mixture throughout the rest of the tracks elevated The Weeknd’s image from the dark house partier to international icon.īut “Beauty Behind the Madness” was not without flaws, especially in the case of lyrical and thematic repetitiveness. The singer’s interest in live instrumentation came to the forefront on the 2015 hit “Can’t Feel My Face,” amid genre-bending electronic dance music beats. The Weeknd, the musical pseudonym of Abel Makkonen Tesfaye, dominated 2015 with his album “Beauty Behind the Madness.” This week, Lee reflects on the The Weeknd’s rise from his last-year release of “Beauty Behind the Madness” and the realization of his star power with “Starboy,” which was released Friday.Ĭanadian superstar The Weeknd commands such a level of hype that even a haircut can drive ripples of internet anticipation for a new album.įew mainstream artists can maintain the level of musical consistency the Toronto crooner has shown over the course of his two latest album releases, “Beauty Behind the Madness” and “Starboy.” Each week, A&E columnist Sean Lee will compare two newly released albums and recommend which one students should listen to.
Music fans can find it hard to decide which albums to stream and which to skip, considering the surplus of new music released.