Today's
The Weeknd “Often”
Everyone was talking about The Weeknd. He was the answer to the general malaise in R&B music and the steady, looming wave of blue-eyed soul that was fittin’ to take over the genre. He release a mixtape trilogy that lead listeners in the world of The Weeknd. It was dark. It was depressing. It was dangerous. It was erotic. And people loved it. A lot. And then… and then… And that’s the thing. I have no idea what happened. Maybe it was because every song sounded so similar. Maybe it was too much music too soon. Maybe it was because he is Canadian. Maybe the inevitable swagger-jacking of his music, of his sound made his sound tired. Maybe it was Drake’s fault {an incredibly convenient argument where you can blame the Black man and blame Canada in one feel swoop}. Who really knows. The reality is that no one was really talking about the man or his music.
I’m a big proponent of the idiom, “Absence makes the heart grow fonder.” I think couples should take vacation separately. I know that parents need to send their kids away for the summer. I believe in extended work vacations. We needed a break from The Weeknd. We needed to miss his haunts and his whispers. Now that we’ve had some distance, when you listen to “Often” you remember how talented this guy is, how vivid his songs are, and how much you enjoy his music. We just needed some space.