When Abel Tesfaye aka The Weeknd announced that we would be dropping a surprise album at midnight on March 30th, Twitter went into a frenzy. No one expected new music from the Weeknd to be releasing so soon especially after the success on his third studio album. But with a Coachella performance just around the corner, the Weeknd thought maybe it would be a good idea to drop some new music for his fans. Now that the album has been out for a couple of days people are starting to speculate if this only six songs length album is about his ex-girlfriend Selena Gomez.
The world was shocked to find out in late 2016 that the Weeknd and Selena Gomez were reportedly dating after being caught kissing behind a garbage dumpster at a restaurant. The couple ended their 10-month relationship after Gomez was seen hanging around her old flame Justin Bieber. In would make sense for The Weeknd to write an album regarding his relationship with Gomez since heartache always makes for good albums and songs.
The beginning track called “Call Out My Name” is almost definitely about Gomez, which him singing lyrics such as ” We found each other, I helped you out of a broken place.” Before their relationship, Gomez when to rehab for her lupus but she also has spoken out about her “issues with depression and anxiety.” The Weeknd goes on to sing “Guess I was just another pit stop until you made up your mind, you just wasted my time.” When Gomez was dating the Weeknd, she abruptly on and off boyfriend, Justin Bieber.
The other song called “Wasted Times” also can be interpreted as a song that is dedicated not only to Selena but also his ex-girlfriend and model Bella Hadid. The lyrics in the song says, “Wasted Time I spent with someone else, she wasn’t even half of you.” The Weeknd could ultimately feel like he wasted his time with Gomez after she went back Bieber and him suddenly realizing her should have never left Hadid in the first place. A lyric in the song that makes it pretty clear that he is talking about Bella Hadid is when he sings “You were equestrian, so ride it like a champion.” Which if you did not know Hadid has an equestrian past as she was supposed to compete in the 2016 Olympics for horse riding and still rides horses during her free time.
Whether you think the album is about Selena Gomez or not, this album is a return to dark R&B style he is known for in albums such as his older body of work “Trilogy.” The Weeknd has had significant success with this record and landed the largest debut on Spotify with nearly 3.5 million streams on the day of its release. The Weeknd’s album is even expected to debut in the top 10 Billboard charts, which will release on April 14th