The Weeknd | The Music Ninja - Part 4

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History

The Music Ninja Presents: Sunday Night Soul

Posted by Baseer Ahmad - November 17, 2013

R&B has experienced a bit of a renaissance lately. Artists like Frank Ocean, The Weeknd, and Miguel have been able to breathe new life into the genre in recent years, and now because of the internet we have more talent to choose from than ever before. In order to properly pay tribute to all these new faces in the business, we’ve put together a little soul mix for you to listen to while you wind down your weekend. Now this is unexplored territory for us, so we can’t promise it’ll be a weekly series just yet, but we’ll do our best to keep it consistent. In the meantime, we’d like to kick things off right with an extremely talented group of artists, including names like JMSN, Jhené Aiko, Bipolar Sunshine, Sampha, The Weeknd, Tei Shi and many more! We promise you won’t be disappointed, so kick back, relax, plug your headphones in and immerse yourself in the sweet melodies and smooth grooves provided by tonight’s entertainment.

’Aaradhna – Wake Up Remix featuring Common’

’William Bolton – Passion’

’Bipolar Sunshine – Drowning Butterflies’

’Sean Kongery – Aware (feat. Elias)’

’LIZ – Stop Me Cold’

’Skin Town – Hit Down’

’Sabi – Both of Us (Ft. Ryan McDermott)’

’2AM Club – Evidence’

’Jarrell Perry – Braindead’

’Jr. Hi – Secrets ft. The Weeknd’

’Woz – Early Morning Champagne Ft. Joel Compass EP (Black Butter #52)’

’Candice – Smoker’s Room’

’King Avriel – Prelude’

’Tei Shi – Nature vs Nurture’

’Esty – Pools Full Of Women (Prod. by Jess Jackson)’

’Dawn Richard – Fade’

’Jhené Aiko – The Worst’

’Kristal Lyndriette – Silhoutte’

’Gallant – Manhattan (prod. Felix Snow)’

’Kwabs – Last Stand (produced by SOHN)’

’Sway Clarke II – I Don’t Need Much’

’JMSN – Thing U Missed’

’Sampha – Happens’

[NEW] The Weeknd – Devil May Cry (Prod. Rick Rubin)

Posted by Baseer Ahmad - November 12, 2013

The Weeknd
Devil May Cry

When you think of The Weeknd, the first thing that pops in your mind is probably not The Hunger Games. Despite that, Abel’s second contribution to the upcoming film’s soundtrack is certainly a must listen. “Devil May Cry” finds the Canadian crooner breaking from convention as he weaves together an eloquent and captivating melody. It’s not often that The Weeknd get to show off his versatility, but Rick Rubin helped bring his vision to light, as he explains here:

I wanted to go for an uplifting and conquering yet melancholy mood. Rick Rubin helped me bring it to life.

The soundtrack for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire will be available on November 19th, with the film hitting theaters shortly afterwards on November 22nd. However, you can stream the full soundtrack on iTunes right now, which includes contributions from Coldplay, Lorde, The National, Diplo, and more.

[Event Review] The Weeknd, BANKS, & Anna Lunoe – The Chicago Theatre 10/13-10/14

Posted by Baseer Ahmad - October 24, 2013

(Photo Credit: Kyle Garcia)

’The Weeknd – Pretty’

’BANKS – Change (Prod. By Tim Anderson)’

’Anna Lunoe – Breathe’

3 artists. 2 nights. 7,200 minds blown. That would be the simplest way to sum up my experience in Kiss Land. With a lineup featuring The Weeknd, BANKS, and Anna Lunoe, I was understandably excited the whole day leading up to the event. The first thing that popped into my head as I strolled up to the venue and read the names on the glowing marquee, was that this felt all too surreal. Two years ago, I could’ve never imagined that my first show at the legendary Chicago Theatre would be by The Weeknd. Not only that, but the fact that he was headlining two sold-out back-to-back nights was a true testament to how far he’s come in such a short period.

Walking in, you could immediately feel the energy in the air. There’s always excitement before any show, but this night just felt different in many ways. Maybe it was because of all the weed smoke, maybe it was the crowded space in The Chicago Theatre lobby, or maybe everyone was just as curious about what to expect as I was. Luckily, we had Anna Lunoe to help carry us through each painfully slow minute that ticked by. While I personally didn’t know much about Lunoe coming into the show, I was pleasantly surprised by her set. She’s not your traditional DJ by any means, and her music certainly reflected that, as she was able to get the crowd pumped up with a unique mix of tracks that varied wildly between Cashmere Cat, Lil B, and even some of her own material.

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[Album Review] The Weeknd – Kiss Land

Posted by tylercole - September 10, 2013

’The Weeknd – Professional’

’The Weeknd – Wanderlust’

’The Weeknd – Adaptation’

A modern day Michael Jackson may have been reincarnated into The Weeknd. Ok, maybe not as legendary but the artist, also known as Abel Tesfaye, embodies a darker, troubled, and more realistic version of the R&B singer for this generation. After dropping the 3-part mixtape series House of Balloons/Thursday/Echoes of Silence and building up a well-deserved following, the Toronto artist trades in sexual overtones for a more polished sound on his XO and Universal Republic Records debut, Kiss Land.

With minimal press and promotion, other than the slight drama with fellow Toronto labelmate Drake, The Weeknd lets his music speak for itself on Kiss Land. Considering that this is technically his 4th full length album, the 23 year-old singer has developed a signature sound of falsetto vocals, atmospheric synths, and innovative textures revolving around relationships, sex, addiction, intimacy, and drug-induced trysts with groupies or strippers just looking for a night with stardom. There is an undeniable sadness in his tones and lyrics that only a lack of love and true intimacy can evoke with a studio perfected sound that Universal Records brings.

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[R&B] The Weeknd – Wanderlust (Pharrell Remix)

Posted by tylercole - September 3, 2013

The Weeknd
Wanderlust (Pharrell Remix)

Hit-maker and Virgina-bred artist Pharrell Williams has been killing it this summer with a series of infectious hits. He’s already teamed up for some major summer anthems with Daft Punk s “Get Lucky” and Robin Thicke‘s “Blurred Lines” alongside T.I. So, it was only a matter of time before he took the time to collaborate with one of Toronto’s rising stars, The Weeknd. Getting ready for his upcoming debut, the two crooners drop a remix to “Wanderlust.” Adding some smooth vocals over a re-worked groovy beat, the pair were able to make a solid R&B/pop duet. This track will be featured as a bonus listen on The Weeknd’s Kiss Land, dropping September 10th. A full stream of the album can be found over at NPR.

Remixes
Soul

[Hip-Hop] Lil Wayne – Dedication 5 (Mixtape)

Posted by Baseer Ahmad - September 1, 2013

Lil Wayne really wanted to make sure you weren’t sleeping on him, dropping his highly anticipated Dedication 5 mixtape in the wee hours of the morning around 6:00 AM (well after its planned release date). Chances are most of us were tucked in neatly under our sheets around that time, but if you happened to arrive home from some late night festivities, you probably had a nice surprise waiting for you.

While I’m not ready to anoint him the hip-hop crown, after one listen through the 29-track effort, I’d say Weezy appears to be in stronger form than on any of his other recent projects. Maybe he finally heard all the chatter that he’d fallen off and decided to put in some work. That seems to be the underlying motivation behind releasing this latest tape in the Dedication series. It’s not exactly like anybody was clamoring for it. In the end though, Dedication 5 seems like a solid project overall, and with features from The Weeknd, Chance The Rapper, T.I., and 2 Chainz, among others, definitely something worth checking out.

DOWNLOAD: Lil Wayne – Dedication 5

’Lil Wayne – You Song feat. Chance The Rapper’

’Lil Wayne – FuckWitMeYouKnowIGotIt feat. T.I.’

’Lil Wayne – Started From The Bottom Remix’

’The Weeknd – I’m Good’

Hip/Hop

[R&B] The Weeknd – Live For (Feat. Drake)

Posted by Baseer Ahmad - August 20, 2013

The Weeknd
Live For (feat. Drake)

Do you “Live For” new music from The Weeknd? No? Well then, you have some time to sort out your priorities as you listen to his latest single, featuring Toronto cohort, Drake. Over some cascading percussion and gossamery strings, the pair describe exactly what it is that keeps them breathing (hint: if you’ve listened to any Drake song in the past, you should pretty much know the standard answers already). This may not be our favorite single off of Kiss Land, but we’re still looking forward to the album’s release on September 10th.

Hip/Hop
Soul