The Weeknd didn’t believe he had ‘right look’ as young artist
Written by worldOneFm on April 22, 2023
The Weeknd initially didn’t think he had the “right look” to make it in the music industry.
During a discussion with playwright Jeremy O. Harris for the latest issue of Interview magazine, the singer-songwriter – real name Abel Tesfaye – reflected on why he chose to hide his identity when he first released music via YouTube in 2010.
“I wanted to be very calculated about how I wanted people to see me or hear my music. The initial reason I did that was I didn’t think I was marketable when I was younger, especially for R&B. I didn’t think I had the right look,” he explained. “The R&B look was very sexual back in the day. Obviously, there were a lot of singers that didn’t have the conventional R&B look, but for me, it was more of a personal thing. I liked getting an unbiased reaction from my music. People got to just judge me for the art, for the music I was putting out.”
The Weeknd admitted concealing his appearance became a “gimmick” for a period of time but it became “impossible” due to the nature of the Internet.
And while he was ready to enter the business, he insisted it took a long time for him to feel confident as a performer.
“The real challenge was the live performances, going out there and showing yourself to people for the first time. And on top of that, I had to sing, and I had never performed live before, so I got thrown into the fire for that as well. I think Coachella was my first performance in the U.S. and it might have been my fourth performance ever,” the 33-year-old added.
The Weeknd is about to begin promoting his first TV show, The Idol. The programme is set to premiere via HBO on 4 June.
