The Weeknd Isn’t Afraid To Be The World’s Biggest Pop Star

3 Mins read

The Weeknd isn’t a streaming music star. Well, he is, often duking it out to be the top of the Spotify’s monthly play charts and holding both the most streamed song on the platform (“Blinding Lights” is about to cross 5 billion streams, with “Starboy” holding strong as the third-biggest song ever streamed). But to classify The Weeknd as just that discounts so much of what makes him a legitimate answer for the biggest pop star in the world.

The Weeknd has been a critical darling, starting out as a well-reviewed R&B enigma with his initial mixtape trilogy of House Of Balloons, Thursday, and Echoes Of Silence, and regaining such esteem with some of his recent big-tent offerings like After Hours and Dawn FM. He’s a multidiscipline creator, spreading his wings in the realms of television (The Idol) and film (Hurry Up Tomorrow). And, he’s a live-music force, selling out stadiums and becoming a Coachella fixture who can even step in a replacement headliner when all else fails.

His run at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles last week saw a staggering four sold-out nights, a record for a male artist at the stadium. And it was a performance that highlighted all the aspects of The Weeknd’s success, full of the biggest hits of the last decade, beautiful creative direction that filled the massive space, and even nods to his visual work.

We can start on the last part first, as before the set even started, The Weeknd displayed a trailer for the recently released film Hurry Up Tomorrow, a movie that failed to ignite both critics and audiences during its theatrical run, but could still make an impact in the VOD and streaming markets. It’s easy to take shots at both his recent film and TV offerings as acts of hubris, but they have aligned him with some pretty cool company (Jenna Ortega, Barry Keohgan, Lily-Rose Depp, Jennie, Moses Sumney, Troye Sivan, and many more) and, maybe more importantly, find the artist betting on himself and his vision to tell stories through mediums he clearly is passionate about and believes in. Just because he hasn’t found success yet (and, to be fair, everyone from Beyoncé to Taylor Swift has equally spotty film and TV output), there’s a bravery to trying things at risk of embarrassment. And, that translates to his music, as well.

Visually, the creative around the performance was as adventurous as his film and TV work, full of off-kilter, red-cloaked dancers, a giant glowing-eyed statue reminiscent of the local Americana mall, a destroyed cityscape set, and enough fire to raise the stadium’s temperature to sweat-inducing levels. It worked both for the direct line of sight and the video projections, with marks carefully chosen to serve both the audience directly in front of the singer, and the audience in the rafters watching on the massive screens. My favorite was when he’d reach the end of his catwalks (which formed a cross in the center of the stadium floor) and he would perform straight into the camera, accentuating the ringed-design of the stage behind him while the giant statue would rotate. It was all quite beautiful and thoughtful, the kind of thing that would only be thought of if the performer had a firm grasp on visual mediums.

And, there is of course the music. Sure, his songs do numbers. But witnessing how tunes both old (“Often) and new (“Timeless” with a Playboi Carti appearance) went over and caused deafening responses accentuated the real-world impact of his music. It’s one thing to get the butts into seats (or, in this case, never once actually using said seats), but it’s another thing to drive such a massive, visceral reaction to an audience that spanned children with their parents to 30-year-olds on dates. And The Weeknd didn’t shy away from the support, frequently commenting on the enthusiasm and egging the audience on to get louder.

It all adds up to find The Weeknd as an artist not shying away from the moment and any of the cringeyness that might come with embracing his massive stature. Sure, he started the performance in a mask with creepy, glowing eyes — something some other artists have done when reacting to their own stature — but he quickly removed it and proved ready for the moment. For an artist that often teases retiring his recording persona, it’s clear that he can make all the elements of his success work for a complete vision. The Weeknd isn’t afraid to be the world’s biggest pop star, and he doesn’t need to sacrifice his mercurial artistry in order to achieve it.