On Jan. 7, 2024, Starboy musician and singer, The Weeknd, took to Instagram teasing what looks to be a new album. However, a short two years after releasing Dawn FM, it seems as though The Weeknd has more groundbreaking plans in the works than just an upcoming album.
Back in May, the Canadian-Ethiopian star shed light on his desires to bid farewell to his stage name, and perform songs under his legal name, Abel Tesfaye. He explains that this third piece of the puzzle will be the last album released by The Weeknd, before he “sheds some skin and [becomes] reborn.”
As heartbreaking as it sounds, it simply is only right for him to end off on a positive note: Back in 2011, The Weeknd dropped three mixtapes, which are still cult-classics to date: House of Balloons, Thursday and Echoes of Silence, which were revamped for his long-awaited Trilogy Compliation, which released in Nov. 2012. Because of this, it seems only fitting that The Weeknd releases an updated trilogy of songs, this time with some new beats and potential features.
Under his belt are a multitude of accomplishments: with five studio albums, nine extended plays, multiple mixtapes, one soundtrack and over 70 singles under the infamous stage name, it will be a tough chapter for fans to close. We can only hope that Tesfaye offers insight in the near future about what these projects could look like, and the kind of vision he has in mind for the rebrand.
But, what is his last album looking like exactly? As far as we know, Lily Rose-Depp joins The Weeknd for two songs for HBO’s The Idol. Hopefully, we’ll see renowned collaborations with artists like J.Cole, Future and Drake, however The Weeknd is always full of surprises: He has even gone so far to gush about the name of the album, saying “It’s not called what [some] fans think it’s called.” During that same interview, he mentioned that he was still finishing up some moving parts to the album, which means as fans, we have to be patient.
With that being said, folks, Save Your Tears: It looks like we still have some time before this album drops to keep digging. Until then, let this serve as a Reminder that in terms of his chart-topping spot in our hearts, he’s definitely Earned It, no matter what name he chooses to go by.