Famous Canadian musician, The Weeknd, has been in the mainstream spotlight since his debut album back in 2011. Throughout the years, The Weeknd or Abel Tesfaye has been delivering hit after hit and album after album that continues to be played repeatedly on the radio, at parties, events, and in the headphones of his millions of fans all over the world. Although every single one of The Weeknd’s projects is amazing in its own way, there has always been one project in specific that has stood out to me, Starboy. In 2016, Abel released what I think is one of the decade’s best albums, and I’ve had it on repeat ever since it was released.

The album starts with its title song, Starboy, about how Abel has changed as a person and as a celebrity. The music video plays a significant role in the meaning behind the song; in the video, you see the ‘new’ Abel Tesfaye with short hair killing the ‘old’ Abel Tesfaye with his iconic long hair. The song also talks about The Weeknd’s fans making him what it is, and it’s his fan’s fault for the drug-filled and lonely lifestyle he now lives in. As is the case with most of The Weeknd’s work, Starboy is, at its core, a sad song about Abel’s struggle being in the constant spotlight with no genuine relationships in his life other than the drugs he consumes.

Delving into the true meaning behind every one of the tracks on this project would take an eternity, and in some cases, I found that some of the tracks on Starboy are easier to enjoy when you’re not aware of its dark undertones. The album continues after Starboy with its production-heavy, pop, futuristic sound with major hits such as Party Monster and Reminder. However, what I love most about the album are the lesser-known songs, or at least the songs that haven’t been on repeat on every music station in North America for the past five years. Songs that immediately come to mind for me are False Alarm, Rockin’, Secrets, Love To Lay, and A Lonely Night. Not only are those songs not as commercially successful as a lot of the “hits” on the album, but they also share another similarity, a similarity that made me fall in love with the project. All four of the tracks mentioned above give off the same Michael Jackson esc vibe that has me in awe of how similar The Weeknd’s songs are to Michael Jackson’s at times.

Something that stands out to me about Starboy is the way Abel uses his features. The features on Starboy aren’t your standard features that are entertaining because it’s a different voice but other than that, nothing special. The features The Weeknd uses on this project are entirely out of this world. Starting with Daft Punk’s feature in the opening song of the project, Starboy, and continuing throughout the project, the features on the album impress me every time I listen to the music. The two primary standout features, in my opinion, on the album come from, Future in the song All I Know and Kendrick Lamar in the song Sidewalks. Future manages to combine his dark, deep voice and almost psychedelic way of rapping with Abel’s high-pitched voice flawlessly, making for a fantastic combination. In Sidewalks, Kendrick Lamar unleashes on the end of the track with a bar-heavy verse that switches flows and speeds seamlessly, all the while managing to stay on beat. Features like the ones from Kenrick and Future push the project over the top for me. We always knew The Weeknd had a lot of talent but seeing him work so perfectly with other artists in the game with so many different styles was surprising.

Future makes one other appearance on the album after his feature in All I Know. In the song Six Feet Under, Future is used again by The Weeknd as part of the hook at just like every feature on the album; it is used perfectly. Six Feet Under has always stuck out to me the most out of any song on Starboy, and before I even knew what it was about, I loved it. Six Feet Under has a very dark cadence to it; in fact, it uses the same cadence another track by The Weeknd and Future, Low Life. Six Feet Under is about a woman who won’t stop at anything to make money, not even what she is “six feet under.” “six feet under” refers to the woman’s grave, six feet underground. The woman in the song won’t even let death get in the way of her making money.

There is a very dark theme to the entire album, yet many songs are still upbeat and easy to sing along to. Abel finds a way to balance the two. Even the album’s most popular songs that are played repeatedly on the radio have dark meanings behind them. In the song Die For You, The Weeknd is fighting the pain and mixed feelings that come when he lets go of a lover he still has intense feelings for. The lyrics “Even though we’re going through it and it makes you feel alone, just know that I would die for you” suggest that Abel is willing to die for his ex-lover despite being apart from one another. On Party Monster, The Weeknd talks about his lavish party lifestyle and ongoing relationships with harmful drugs and one-night stands with people he feels no emotion towards. He goes as far as to mention that every morning after a crazy night, he wakes up, and thanks to the Lord, he is still alive.

Throughout the rest of the project, The Weeknd constantly reminds us of his drug-fueled and party-heavy lifestyle. Starboy was the birth of the new Abel Tesfaye, and from then on, we have been exposed to a new side of The Weeknd’s lifestyle. Starboy will forever hold a special place in my heart as it is the album that got me into The Weeknd’s music, and for that reason, I will forever be thankful.