The new project is packed with party records. The music hit the studio like a Mack truck. It had a certain arrogance someone could only conjure with 100 percent certainty that I was indeed not ready. It wasnвЂ™t prompted by genuine concern that maybe I needed to grab a notebook or a bottle of water. Mind you, nobody knew who The Weeknd was. A good friend of mine hooked me up with a job at American Apparel, and I was folding clothes there when somebody at the store played the song. It was the first song that came out from The Weeknd. The second instance was when вЂњWhat You NeedвЂќ came out. He heard me sing and was like, вЂњYou should sing for Canadian Idol.вЂќДid you try to go on Canadian Idol ? No! But then I started singing to girls and I was getting great feedback. It wasnвЂ™t until I met La Mar, my best friend. And I would get in trouble for it because it was inappropriate at the time. When did you first hear your voice and know that it was special? I used to get penalized for singing when I was younger, because I always wanted to sing. Especially R&B, which is a genre that is heavily influenced by how the artist looks. And I felt like it was the most unbiased reaction you can get to the music, because you couldnвЂ™t put a face to it. With House of Balloons, nobody knew what I looked like. Maybe there is a deeper issue with that, but I feel like with me itвЂ™s never been about the artist and the image of the artist.

What was the original reason for your anonymity? I donвЂ™t know. But I feel like because IвЂ™m not dark, I was able to channel it and put it into my music and into my art. IвЂ™ve used those dark times as inspiration for my art. My art is dark, and IвЂ™ve gone through dark times. How do you feel about people thinking youвЂ™re a dark person? I am not dark. Jacket, price upon request, and turtleneck, $1,090, by Amiri.

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