Believe it or not, there was a time when Abel Tesfaye, better known as The Weeknd, declined all interviews because he felt he wasn’t well spoken enough but it seems now he is more confident than ever.
In a deep interview with Rolling Stone, labelled ‘Sex, Drugs and R&B: Inside The Weeknd’s Dark Twisted Fantasy’, Abel covers a timeline to his stardom, as well as letting readers in on some more random, personal details; including when he lost his virginity (yes- he actually says his age & everything), how he met model girlfriend Bella Hadid, the struggles and triumphs he has faced through the years with his music and, of course, he mentions his famous hairdo.
However, the part of the interview which immediately drew the most interest was the moment Abel revealed that he gave Drizzy half of his own album.
Although still referring to Drake as his closest friend in the industry at the time of ‘Take Care’ (the album that really gave The Weeknd his first bit of major exposure) dropping, Abel says “I gave up almost half of my album. It’s hard. I will always be thankful as, if it wasn’t for the light he shined on me, who knows where I’d be. And everything happens for a reason. You never know what I would say if this success wasn’t in front of me now.”
Wrapping up the interview The Weeknd said, “I think the worst thing anyone can say about an artist is, ‘He could have been great,’ I was always scared of being that guy where it’s like, ‘He could have been big’. ‘He could have been a star.’ I was afraid I’d see somebody else up there and be like, ‘You’re trying to tell me they’re better than me? Why? Because they’ve got a couple of smash records? I can do smashes. I could figure it out.’
“And to be honest with you, it’s been, what, a couple of years now? And it feels great. I feel great.”
You can read the entire interview with Rolling Stone right here.