The Rundown: The Weeknd, Beauty Behind The Madness
The XO King breaks more hearts with his latest release.
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The Rundown: The Weeknd, Beauty Behind The Madness - Abel Tesfaye a/k/a The Weekend takes us on another soulful trippy ride with his sophomore release and shares his pain as he deals with love and addiction. Peep the play-by-play now of his hypnotic musical trance. -Michael Harris (@IceBlueVA) (Photo: Republic Records)
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"Real Life" - Mama knows best and The Weeknd kicks off his sophomore project recalling the advice she gave him about breaking hearts and living wild and free. Reminiscent of Michael Jackson’s classic “Billie Jean,” he walks us through his self-destructive behavior and lets us into his world with: “Mama called me destructive, oh yeah/ Said it ruined me one day, yeah/ 'Cause every woman that loved me, oh yeah/ I seemed to push them away.”(Photo: Christopher Polk/Getty Images)
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"Loser," Featuring Labrinth - British crooner Labrinth comes through on this soulful funk track as he and The Weeknd question the paths put before the youth, like school, and shares the hard truth that the winners are the ones who usually create their own paths.Getting to the top by himself, The Weeknd pats himself on the back as he sings, “And now that we're all grown up/ Who do we owe it to?/ And now that we've gone this far/ Who do we owe it all to?/ We did it all alone/ Now we're coming for the throne…”(Photos from Left: Kevin Winter/Getty Images, Tim Edwards/WENN.com)
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"Tell Your Friends" - Kanye West and Mike Dean help work the boards with The Weeknd while he gives us a glimpse into the life of being a young star. Making no apologies for the plethora of drugs and women he’s consumed, he doesn’t shy away from the rumors and reveals: “And money is the only thing I'm chasing/ And some dope dimes on some coke lines/ Give me head all night, cum four times/ Baby girl just wanna smoke a pound/ Do an ounce, get some d**k/ Tell her friends about it.”(Photo: DC5/WENN.com)
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"The Often" - The Weeknd turns it up in the bedroom over this seductive track from Ben Billions and unveils his freak game with, “She asked me if I do this every day, I said often/ Asked how many times she rode the wave, not so often/ B****s down to do it either way, often/ Baby I can make that p***y rain, often/ Often, often, girl I do this often/ Make that p***y pop and do it how I want it.”(Photo: Taylor Hill/Getty Images)
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"The Hills" - Hopefully you don’t confuse sex with love but if you do the XO lover harmonizes a few rules from the jump-off manual and confesses, “I only f**k you when it's half past five/ The only time I'd ever call you mine/ I only love it when you touch me, not feel me/ When I'm f****d up, that's the real me.”(Photo: Gabriel Olsen/Getty Images)
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"Acquainted" - Usually getting what he wants, The Weeknd finds himself on the chase over a cutie not so quick to give it up. Taking his time to learn one lady that intrigued him long enough to stick around, he turns it up on this climatic track, whispering, “I keep on touching on your body/ To say that we're in love is dangerous/ But girl I'm so glad we're acquainted/ I got you touching on your body/ I know I'd rather be complacent/ But girl I'm so glad we're acquainted.”(Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images for iHeartMedia)
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"Can't Feel My Face" - The XO King takes us through his trials with drugs as his vices take on the personification of a woman. Knowing she could be his eventual downfall, he sings, “And I know she'll be the death of me, at least we'll both be numb/ And she'll always get the best of me, the worst is yet to come/ All the misery was necessary when we're deep in love/ This I know, girl, I know.”(Photo: Jemal Countess/Getty Images)
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"Shameless" - The Weeknd breaks hearts once more and refuses to be a one woman man, confessing to the ladies that it’s their fault for choosing him because they know how he is. His hurtful truths include, “I don't wanna hurt you but you live for the pain/ I'm not tryna say it but it's what you became/ You want me to fix you, but it's never enough/ That's why you always call me 'cause you're scared to be loved.”(Photo: Jlnphotography/WENN)
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"Earned It" - Abel gets us open with this climatic number originally featured in the blockbuster film 50 Shades Of Grey where we find the XO love man revealing his sexual tantras with, “'Cause girl, you're perfect/ You're always worth it/ And you deserve it/ The way you work it/ 'Cause girl you earned it/ Girl you earned it, yeah.”(Photo: Daniel Boczarski/Redferns/Getty Images)
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"In The Night" - Mr. Tesfaye instructs us not be so quick to judge as he details the life a stripper who was molested as a child, which eventually drove her into the life. The up-tempo pop cut’s cautionary tale includes, “He sang a song when he did it/ He was cold and he was so unforgiving/ Now she dances to the song on the minute/ Yeah, all the time, all the time/ It make her weak when she hear it/ And it got her on her knees like religion/ She was young and she was forced to be a woman/ Yeah, all the time, all the time.”(Photo: Peter Kaminski/WENN.com)
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"As You Are" - Cheating lovers still won’t let their love die as The Weeknd confesses, “Even though you break my heart/ Baby I know what we are/ Our love's too young/… I'ma need you/ I’ll take you as you are.”(Photo: Jlnphotography/WENN)
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“Dark Times,” Featuring Ed Sherran - Ed Sherran joins The Weeknd on this dark bluesy track where we find the two reliving their depressed states and speaking on their drug binges with, “In my dark times I'll be going back to these streets/ Promising everything I do not mean/ In my dark times, baby this is all I could be/ Only my mother could love me for me..."(Photos from Left: Christopher Polk/Getty Images, Larry Busacca/Getty Images for NARAS)
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“Prisoner,” Featuring Lana Del Rey - Lana Del Rey and Mr. XO fight their confinements here as they battle their personal demons which often causes them problems when it comes to finding love. Tortured by the monkey on his back, The Weeknd confesses, “I’m a prisoner to my addiction/ I’m addicted to a life that’s so empty and so cold/ I’m a prisoner to my decisions…”(Photos from Left: Sonia Recchia/Getty Images, Ian Gavan/Getty Images)