The Starboy Album by Weeknd
The Weeknd released the Starboy Album on November 25, 2016. The album is available on Apple Music and Amazon.com Music. This is a double album of feverish R&B and an interstellar soul that revolves around an ambitious title character. The 18-track album clocks in at about an hour and features two latest collaborations with Daft Punk as well as guest slots from Future, Kendrick Lamar, and Lana Del Rey. There are seven singles in the album: “Starboy,” “I Feel It Coming,” “Die for You,” “Secrets,” “Reminder,” “Party Monster,” and “Rockin.” The album has a variety of exciting features for a range of listeners.
The most exciting things about this album are its originality, ingenuity in the themes selected, and creativity that give listeners a reason to listen to the songs again and again. “Sidewalks’” for instance, has a great sense of invention due to the squeals of electric guitar, scattershot drums, and typically screen-stealing. He manages to offer a thrilling reprise of ‘80s underground darkwave through his sarcastically inspired meditations. The Weeknd appears to be among the trailblazers who have brought amazing soul music, such as the deeply touching ambient states of Frank Ocean, the galvanizing call-to-arms of the Knowles sister’s political R&B, or the thrift-shop punk of Anderson Paak.
The Starboy album focuses on issues that affect society today, and most listeners would like to hear about them. Issues such as no-strings sex, women solely obsessed with money, and bad boy boyfriends, the album is appealing to different categories of listeners. The album has a strong message regarding celebrity, fame, and wealth that will educate the listeners as they seek pleasure in the music.
The Starboy is an album that I would recommend to all listeners because it has several things worth hearing. The album envelops listeners in a paranoid venture of insanity, drugs, and sex. It highlights The Weeknd’s raw voice and exposes a new side of him, revealing his insanity and vulnerability in multiple tracks. The songs have a strong, mind-boggling message for all listeners. The songs have both crazed and anxious tones that set the mood for the album. Almost everyone will have no choice to dance when the chorus hits because of the sense of madness they create.
The Weeknd has created one of the most hypnotizing and fun albums that will attract the attention of listeners of different backgrounds. The artist uses heavy themes of drugs, sex, love, materialism, and betrayal, which throw listeners into the “Starboy” world. The album has a vibe that will stay in the minds of listeners for a long period. The Weeknd made a smart move by putting the first half of the album in sexy undertones and a paranoid of wild and then followed by an upbringing in the second half.
“Starboy” is the title track, fun and pop hit hypnotic hit featuring Daft Punk. The Weeknd fits well into the Daft Punk’s techno spirit, making The Weeknd’s blues and soul, and sense of rhythm great. The second track is the “Party Monster” and has a repetitive chorus that will hypnotize listeners into a daydream of paranoia. “False Alarm” is the third track and has rapid vocals and sporadic beat that create an almost pop-punk song that is tension-filled. The track explores materialism by focusing on an obsession with wealth, money, and diamonds (MUSIC 3). This is a major theme in the album. “Reminder,” the fourth song, reveals The Weeknd’s success journey to the listener. In the track, The Weeknd narrates how he was nominated for a Kids Choice Award for his single song “Can’t Feel My Face,” despite having heavy undertones of substance use.
Listeners will enjoy listening to “Rockin” and “Secrets,” the fifth and sixth songs, respectively, because they are ecstasy-driven pop hits. The “True Colors” song is a slow hit that exposes The Weeknd’s as smooth R&B. The next feature is “Stargirl Interlude” and introduces Lana Del Rey. Despite being a short track, The Weeknd’s subtle tone works well with Del Rey’s sad-girl voice. This song acts as a soothing transition to the subsequent chapter of the album.
In “Sidewalks,” The Weeknd features Kendrick Lamar, and this is one of his best songs to date. The song is about the stories of both artists and the struggles they had to overcome when growing up (Hansen 235). The Weeknd acknowledges the “sidewalks” that saved him and revealed how he had changed tremendously.
Listeners are brought to retro feeling like in the case of recent songs by Bruno Mars through the songs “Love to Lay” and “A Lonely Night.” The Weeknd’s raw vocals could easily be traced in the track “Attention.” The song has fine, repetitive lyrics that make it feel acoustic with a simplistic beat. The song revolves around the theme of love and betrayal, and The Weeknd tells his lover, “You’re only looking for attention/ the only problem is you’ll never get enough.”
Although “Ordinary Life” and Nothing Without You” sound familiar, The Weeknd has great confidence and flow that makes the listeners stay riveted. The audience will be keen to listen to his crazed life of drugs and sex.
The Weeknd features Future in “All I Know.” This track has some highs and lows because most listeners would wish to listen to The Weekend’s solo version because he is able to charm the audience with his sound. Future’s voice, on the other hand, is loud and auto-tuned and gets in the way all through the track. The listeners will be dragged back into the action of “Starboy” by the song “Dies for You.” The Weekend ends the album with the track “I Feel It Coming.” This song is an ’80s-era techno hit with a mellow tune and great use of synth beats.
Although some people might complain that the Starboy album is a disappointment compared to other albums in pop history, people wishing to change for better have a lot of lessons to learn from the eighteen tracks here. It provides hope for overcoming struggles in life, such as drug abuse and discovering the best within oneself. From start to finish, the album gives listeners an amazing listening experience, as well as lessons about life that cannot be forgotten easily. The album is a masterpiece in modern pop music with a great voice. The coherent storytelling in most of the tracks presents the album to listeners with plenty to love. Finding and listening to the Starboy album is not a waste of resources because listeners will have fun and learn at the same time.
Works Cited
Hansen, Kai Arne. “It’s a Dark Philosophy: The Weeknd’s Intermedial Aestheticization of Violence.” On Popular Music and Its Unruly Entanglements. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, 2019. 235-255.
MUSIC, TV INTERACTIVE MAGAZINE. “INDUSTRY PROFILE.” (2018).