Reflecting on his After Hours album, released in March 2020, The Weeknd suggested that last year’s historical events has caused a creative transition for his upcoming projects. In an interview with TMRW, the Grammy Award-winning artist opened up about his latest vision and how COVID-19 and the Black Lives Matter movement have inspired his next album. Says The Weeknd,
“I have been more inspired and creative during the pandemic than I might normally be while on the road, the pandemic, the Black Lives Matter movement and the tensions of the election have mostly created a sense of gratitude for what I have, and closeness with the people near me.”
The singer also looked back at how After Hours was one his career’s best works. Reflecting on one of 2020’s most critically lauded albums, the Canadian crooner said,
“I was laser-focused back then and I’m laser-focused right now. This has been the story of my twenties. I feel like I spent the last 10 years creating a sound and most of my career I’ve either been running away from it or duplicating it, ‘After Hours‘ was the perfect piece of art for me to show my tenure in the industry.”
The news comes just after The Weeknd recruited ROSALÍA for multilingual reconfiguration of “Blinding Lights,” and being named the most-streamed male artist in the world in Spotify‘s reveal of their top songs, albums, and artists of 2020.
