From House of Balloons to My Dear Melancholy: The Ups and Downs of the Weeknd’s Career

An influence that started a different generation of R&B.

Artists such as Drake, Bryson Tiller, PartyNextDoor, Brent Faiyaz, Tyus, Ty Dolla Sign, Majid Jordan, and so many others who have dabbled in this new style of R&B, we all can thank The Weeknd. However, while his great success and influence has brought him a lot of recognition in his music, he has had a few downfalls of his career:

KISSLAND (2013)

Definitely, on the bottom on his beloved works, most of the songs did not give the same aesthetic as House of Balloons or Thursday. He completely went away from the provocative fantasy of his perception of relationships.

STARBOY (2016)

Every artist dabbles into another genre at some point in their career, and not many artists do well when it comes to sales or even replay value. Even though this pop-style album Starboy was a No.1 Billboard album for some time, for the loyal fans that have enjoyed his original works, many were left with a bitter taste in their mouth, and felt abandoned by their beloved Canadian artist.

My Dear Melancholy (2018)

But the Weeknd found a way to come back to his roots and show us his emotional side with his perception of love, drugs, sex, and money through his recent work My Dear Melancholy. This album just proved that he didn’t need to dabble in different genres and as long as his roots were still at the premium of our hearts. This six-song EP finds its way of showing us a little bit of everything. Songs such as “Call Out My Name”, “Try Me”, and “Wasted Times” give us the original sound of the Weeknd’s breakout album Trilogy.

Trilogy (2012)

Finally, in what ought to be considered his best project to date, Trilogy is his pedestal to greatness and can be considered the one that gave us a foundation of what some consider to be R&B in this new generation. This album has three sections and all have great features, great production, and great visuals to complement his aesthetic and artistry. Songs such as “What You Need”, “The Zone”, “The Birds Pt. I & II” gave room for many artists to explore new heights in R&B.

We can continue to ride his recent LP for a while, but with the next year and a half, he needs to create a great album that shocks the R&B world similar to the way Trilogy did. As long as the Weeknd is consistent to his roots and allows himself to feel all the emotions shown in his songs, there would be no reason why he wouldn’t be considered one of the most influential R&B artists in this decade.