50 Cent, Wu-Tang Are Influences on The Weeknd’s New ‘Starboy’ Album
The Weeknd dropped his new album Starboy on Nov. 24. Now, the Toronto singer tells Billboard 50 Cent and Wu-Tang Clan were heavy influences on the project.
“The vibe on Starboy comes from that hip-hop culture of braggadocio, from Wu-Tang and 50 Cent, the kind of music I listened to as a kid,” The Weeknd tells the publication. “Bragging just sounds good, man. I was a teenager when I saw Scarface, and even though it was unbelievable, it’s kind of cool Tony Montana could survive all those gunshots and not feel them.”
Abel also goes in-depth about specific samples he used for Starboy. “And there’s more than one way to do hip-hop culture,” he says. “For the chorus of ‘Secrets,’ we used The Romantics’ ‘Talking in Your Sleep’ and ‘Pale Shelter’ by Tears for Fears. It’s like hip-hop: just grab it. We could have done the interpolation thing, but sampling the original gets the feel.”
Fif caught wind of The Weeknd’s interview and took to Instagram to voice his thoughts, saying, “This is crazy, I was just watching this guys video. Saying damn he got something different going on. It’s next level shit,then he says I was a influence ? listen to (STAR BOY) the shit feel like he in the zone. The #1 spot is not available @theweeknd took that shit.” See that response above.
In other Weeknd-related news, you can now enter to win free tickets to The Weeknd’s Starboy: Legends of the Fall tour. The entry period lasts until Thursday, Dec. 22.
20 of Your Favorite Rappers Naming Their Favorite Rappers
Subscribe to XXL on
