The Weeknd's highly anticipated album, Starboy, hit online retailers at midnight/shelves today. Based off my first initial listen, it's one of the avant-garde singer's best pieces of work to date, or at least, since his mixtape spree put him on. What do you guys think, initial impression-wise?
The album forges together spacey r'n'b, pop elements, and '80s-like dance vibes-- overall, it feels less commercial than Beauty Behind the Madness-- less label direction, maybe. Abel has limited features, but the ones he has are stand-outs. Kendrick Lamar appears on the electric guitar-laden, jazz house-esque "Sidewalks" which we're highlighting here. Yesterday we received tidbits from The Weeknd's Beats 1 interview with Zane Lowe, where Abel heavily praised his collaborator and broke down his studio process.
Stream Starboy in full here.
Quotable Lyrics
OG one, told me one, show me one, eight ways
How to segue
Pussy, power, profit in headache
I reminisce my life innocence
Or life innocent
Or life intimate, with fame
Like when repent
Like when we women up
Gon' get it, good game
She wanna hang with a Starboy
The sun and the moon and star, boy
- Kendrick
