Top 66 The Weeknd Quotes

I didn’t like the way I looked in pictures – when I saw myself on a digital camera, I was like, ‘Eesh.’

I feel like everything we do comes down to how it looks. Even no branding is branding. For example, you had no face or image to put to my music at first. That was branding.

I probably could have toured off ‘Trilogy’ for the rest of my life. It definitely changed the culture. No one can do a trilogy again without thanking The Weeknd.

Marriage is scary to me, man.

Alternative R&B is in my soul. It’s not going anywhere.

My inspiration is R. Kelly, Michael Jackson, and Prince – for the vocals, anyway.

I was very camera shy. People like hot girls, so I put my music to hot girls and it just became a trend. The whole ‘enigmatic artist‘ thing, I just ran with it. No one could find pictures of me.

The effect of music on fashion has been immense, especially hip-hop and urban music.

Thanks to my fans that have been with me from the beginning, I was able to sell out arenas on my own.

I love trying new things.

‘Kiss Land‘ is the story after ‘Trilogy’; it’s pretty much the second chapter of my life. The narrative takes place after my first flight; it’s very foreign, very Asian-inspired. When people ask me, ‘Why Japan?’ I simply tell them it’s the furthest I’ve ever been from home. It really is a different planet.

I feel like I’m changing pop culture.

You aren’t normal if you sing to people. You aren’t a normal person. It’s nerve-racking.

I get naturally uncomfortable when I’m put under a magnifying glass.

When I was making the early stuff, I never expected it to be so big. I was in my own kind of bubble. I never wanted to tour; I just wanted to create music and make a diary I could put out into the world. And sometimes, I became the characters.

‘House of Balloons‘ was special because I had no deadlines, and nobody knew me, so there were no expectations. Spent a year making it perfect. Every song had at least, like, 7 different versions to them before picking the right one.

The game is changing with songs like ‘Earned It’ as opposed to it changing me.

I always use Michael as, first and foremost, a vocal inspiration, and ‘Off the Wall‘ was definitely the one that made me feel like I could sing.

I usually don’t like to ‘spoon feed‘ my audience, because I grew up idolizing story tellers who tell stories using symbolism, so it was in my nature to do the same.

For an Ethiopian mother, if you have a chubby kid, it means you’re doing something good.

I’m all about evolution. I’m the first person to judge myself.

I was everything an R&B singer wasn’t. I wasn’t in shape. I wasn’t a pretty boy.

When people meet me, they say that I’m really kind – contrary to a lot of my music.

A chorus is not easy.

People always say when they meet me that I’m not what they expect. I assume they think I’m this super dark and depressing guy, but I like to channel all of those emotions into my work.

For the chorus of ‘Secrets,’ we used The Romantics’ ‘Talking in Your Sleep’ and ‘Pale Shelter‘ by Tears for Fears. It’s like hip-hop: just grab it.

I make good music for long journeys.

We’re all insecure, aren’t we? I’m not walking around like I’m macho man or anything.

Music is like film to me.

To be recognized for the hard work my team and I put into ‘Starboy’ is an honor.

The mind of a 19-year-old is very different from the mind of a 26-year-old. You grow. You get into better relationships. You experience more, meet more people, better people. But when you’re in a dark hole at an earlier point in your life – you write about the mindset you’re in at that moment.

‘Thursday‘ is a conceptual album. Whatever that situation was, I spent the whole album focusing on that situation.

For my generation, the bomber jacket is like a replacement for the suit jacket. It’s a piece that men wear every day, and it’s something that I would wear for any occasion, whether it’s on the street or going to an awards ceremony.

The last thing you want is to not be recognized for all of the hard work you put in.

In the beginning, I was very insecure. I hated how I looked in pictures.

When I write, I write about my surroundings. Sometimes it’s light, and sometimes it gets very dark.

Environment is very important to me. Sometimes I have to perform during the day for festivals, and my music does not work in the daytime. It is nighttime music.

I’ve had sleep paralysis.

When you come to my show, I want it to feel like opera, like a theatre.

The Joker is my favorite villain of all time: You don’t know his past; you just know what his plans are.

It’s hard to wrap my head around the fact that there are people who can’t or won‘t see what Black Lives Matter is trying to accomplish.

The vibe on ‘Starboy’ comes from that hip-hop culture of braggadocio, from Wu-Tang and 50 Cent, the kind of music I listened to as a kid.

For me, bomber jackets are smart, but they are also street and have a lot of attitude.

Literally wrote ‘Starboy’ in 30 minutes.

All I do is make music.

I think that’s why my career is going to be so long: Because I haven‘t given people everything.

At one point, I didn’t care. Now I want as many people to hear my music as possible.

I want to make pop cool again, and the only way I can do that is by being ambitious and grand.

It’s almost schizophrenic who I portray in my music.

I feel like I’m the kind of guy that would have kids before getting married. The first thing would be kids.

I wanted to drop three albums in a year because no one had done it. It was bold, unheard of.

Image, lyrics, content, storytelling, cohesive body of work – that’s Prince to me.

‘Kiss Land’ is like a horror movie.

OVOXO will always be there.

I’m mainstream.

My purpose is to make exciting music, and I feel like I’ll be doing that for the rest of my life, so there’s no pressure.

‘House of Balloons’ was actually supposed to have more songs than it does.

I spend just as much time on how people hear my music as I do the actual music, no matter how long it takes. I’m such a visual artist as well that it always goes hand-in-hand.

My production and songwriting and the environment around those vocals are not inspired by R&B at all.

I mean… in life… what relationship is easy?

I want to produce the music to a movie that I’m working on, like what Prince did with ‘Purple Rain.’

‘Eastern Promises‘ is great.

All of my music is honest.

When I was performing the songs on ‘Kiss Land,’ it was a great singalong. But there were moments where I realized some parts were catchier than the others. There’s maybe two choruses on all of ‘Kiss Land.’

I just love Bowie. I think he‘s the ultimate inventor.

From when I was born to when I was 21, I never left Toronto. That’s why I’m such a city cat.