The Weeknd has confirmed that his next album will probably be his last hurrah as 'The Weeknd'.
The Weeknd - known for his smash hits like 'Blinding Lights' and 'Starboy' - is already starting to branch out into the world of TV, and has plans for where he'll be taking his music next - and it won't involve his infamous stage name.
The singer is set to star in his upcoming HBO show The Idol, where he plays a cult leader called Tedros who begins a complicated relationship with aspiring singer Jocelyn, played by Lily-Rose Depp.
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The show had been subjected to allegations made around the program's production - fraught with delays and rewrites.
Addressing the controversial nature of the show in a recent interview with W Magazine, he said: "I've been judged since the beginning. My stuff's always, kind of, been provocative…
"As an artist, you have to know that you can't please everybody, and you have to accept that it comes with the job."
The Weeknd - whose real name is Abel Tesfaye - revealed elsewhere in the interview that he thinks he has outgrown the moniker and that he is going through a 'cathartic' path right now.
He told the outlet: "It’s getting to a place and a time where I’m getting ready to close The Weeknd chapter.
"I’ll still make music, maybe as Abel, maybe as The Weeknd. But I still want to kill The Weeknd. And I will. Eventually. I’m definitely trying to shed that skin and be reborn."
He continued: “The album I’m working on now is probably my last hurrah as The Weeknd.
“This is something that I have to do. As The Weeknd, I’ve said everything I can say.”
It looks like the star was already in the process of re-introducing the new Weeknd by killing the 'old' one through his famous 'Starboy' music video.
After a meteoric rise to fame in the music industry, Tesfaye said he is looking forward to exploring more creative paths in the future.
"Film and TV is a new creative muscle for me," he told W. "I don’t release my music until I think it is great. Why would this be any different?”
The Weeknd claimed that he had to fight to get to the 'top in the music industry', explaining that it felt like 'all the odds are against me'
“I’ve always been an underdog—in the beginning, the music business was not easy. I had to fight to get to the top of the mountain," he added.
The Idol is set to hit screens on June 4 on Max.
Topics: Music, Film and TV, The Weeknd
Rashi Agarwal