On behalf of Justnorman.blogspot.com, and all of its affiliate tumblrs, twitterers, and inner city street teams, I'd like to personally welcome you to 2012 AD. *Cues Bone Thugs-N-Harmony 1st of tha Month*
In honor of this fresh start, I figured what better way to ring in the new year than with an album review? As you may have guessed at this point in your following, I prefer to only associate myself with the best of the best, especially when it comes to music. As a BIG fan of The Weeknd, I absolutely refuse to allow for another day to go by without reviewing at least one of his mixtapes. I mean, all he did was change my entire outlook on both life and R&B, no big deal. Since I couldn't do this one alone, I sought the assistance of two of my very few favorite bloggers, Trent (TrentTrizzy) and Havean (HolaHavito) so without further ado. . Legggo.
Ohh but wait a second. Before we begin, if you DON'T know who The Weekend is at this point, you should probably just quit at life, or just click HERE before you even begin reading. Things might make a little more sense if you've actually listened to the music of the man that we're referring to. Okay, let's try this again.
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Blogger: HolaHavito
D.D.
What a way to start the end of a mixtape trilogy. The Weeknd’s cover of Michael Jackson’s single, Dirty Diana, is better than the original. I said it; I am prepared for legions of people transfixed on the past to murder me and moonwalk away silently. I’m sacrificing my well-being in order to illustrate what The Weeknd is trying to prove by covering this song: He is here to stay and he’s damned talented.
Montreal
Montreal is a mid tempo song in which The Weeknd “borrows” lyrics from the French song “Laisse Tomber Les Filles” by France Gall. The lyrics essentially translate to a player’s warning, “stop being a playboy, one day you’ll be the one played and you’ll be hurt.” That is the gist of the track, the narrator is heartbroken, but he’s too prideful and hurt to admit it. The tempo and the background vocals are sensual and evanescent, and are a throwback to early 90’s R&B. Picture The Weeknd in ’93 and the music video for Montreal; a brick filled loft filled with artificial smoke, a sexy girl swirling provocatively in white linen, The Weeknd singing and dancing with a clean high top fade.
Outside
Sex: The Weeknd’s second favorite topic after drugs, of any kind. Though the song is good, lyrically it’s missing the originality and tongue in cheek lyrics that accompanied songs like “Loft Music, The Zone, and The Knowing.” However, as usual the beat itself helps carry The Weeknd when he falls short lyrically from time to time. The bells and dissonant snare drums are hypnotic and trance like, and aid the storytelling of sex that is so good it puts one under a spell.
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Blogger: TrentTrizzy
XO/The Host
The same way that rappers like Young Jeezy, Pusha T, and Rick Ross find new ways to talk about the same white powdery substance, Able Tesfaye, better known by his stage name The Weeknd, continues to seduce our earbuds with tales of marijuana days and cocaine nights. “XO/The Host” is a beautifully narrated tragedy that tells the story of a young girl addicted to the party life. With lines like “specially when your nose red from that K/ Special Diet Coke/ You need more bread/ Now you got no rent/ You blow that money.” The Weeknd does what he’s best at; Painting pictures of tragic lifestyles that make you want to live them out, even if the outcome isn’t a good one. “The Host” serves as a prelude to “Initiation,” in which Able tells our damsel that she must pass a “test” to get his love. This was a good smooth interlude to get us ready for the craziness that’s ahead.
Initiation
This track is hands down the best song on the album in my opinion. Everything about this song, from the eerie instrumental that lurks over the slurred and sporadic pitch of the verses, to lyrics such as, “Roll that weed, blow the fire out/ Taste that lean when you kiss my mouth/ Get so wet when I eat you out” is what attracts people to The Weeknd’s music. He possesses the unique ability to croon the phrases and brash descriptions commonly found in rap music without the slightest hesitation. Women feel sexy singing it, and men still feel at home while listening to it. Win Win.
Same Old Song
This song could’ve easily been titled “Shot for Me pt 2." Here we find Able reflecting with a woman about how she left him when he needed her most, and now that he’s big, she’s coming around again. We’ve heard this story again and a again, and as much as I appreciate the lyrics and the overall message of this song, the emphasized belting of the hook eventually gets to be a bit much for my ears. Not one of my favorites, but still a decent song.
Links: Blogger Twitter
Links: Blogger Twitter
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Blogger: JustNorman
The Fall
As we head towards the end of the mixtape, we see that thing are beginning to slow down drastically as the story progresses. The track reveals itself to be extremely deep, dark, and ominous, which is a common theme for The Weeknd. When listened to on a pair of over-the-ear headphones, the song seems to give off a surround sound effect as if one were being whispered to by a swarm of meth heads at four in the morning. I thought it to be a pretty decent track, but to go along with what Havean has stated previously, it seems to fall short lyrical, but is carried along into the "ohh that's my jam" category due to the oustanding production.
Next
Next is quite possibly one of my least favorite tracks of the mixtape. I've never been a big fan of the whole gloomy, orchestral piano ballad thing, and despite the fact it's The Weeknd who's singing these lyrics, I still don't think I'll ever be able to appreciate it fully. As usual with this guy, I continue to listen to the entire six minutes due to that wonderfully uncanny voice of his, even after I reach the conclusion that I'm almost completely annoyed by the whole idea of the production. In the end, it was a song that I could probably due without, but he needed nine tracks so. . well, I guess that's that.
Echoes of Silence
While I wasn't much of a fan of this track either (sorry for bringing down the vibe), it seems to tie in well with the overarching theme of the entire mixtape. Drugs, parties, and the potential for greatness seems to draw the attention of a variety of curious women. While our main protagonist attempts to tell them (or her) that he is offering nothing more than the superficial, they have no choice but to either oblige, or to end up alone, but due to the nature of the situation at hand, they choose both.
Our top three per section:
Overall I thought this to be was a fairly decent mixtape, and while it wasn't my favorite (House of Ballons for the win), I feel as if it was a nice way to wrap up a series of releases that has recently propelled him to the very top of underground stardom. While The Weeknd still has much more maturing to do before he's able to fully compete with the higher ends of the music world, there is no doubt in my mind that Abel Tesfaye is soon to be in the very forefront of both our minds, and the R&B game as a whole.
*pours cup of XO in celebration*
-JSTNRMN
-HLHVT
-TRNTTRZZY
Our top three per section:
Overall I thought this to be was a fairly decent mixtape, and while it wasn't my favorite (House of Ballons for the win), I feel as if it was a nice way to wrap up a series of releases that has recently propelled him to the very top of underground stardom. While The Weeknd still has much more maturing to do before he's able to fully compete with the higher ends of the music world, there is no doubt in my mind that Abel Tesfaye is soon to be in the very forefront of both our minds, and the R&B game as a whole.
*pours cup of XO in celebration*
-JSTNRMN
-HLHVT
-TRNTTRZZY
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