The Weeknd is close to releasing his official debut studio album Kiss Land in August, and the reclusive singer-songwriter is finally warming up to the idea of doing press. Notoriously mysterious since he emerged two years ago, the 23-year-old gave a rare interview to Complex magazine and admitted that he has been quiet because he did not feel he was that interesting.
“I felt like I had nothing to say,” he claims. “I still feel I have nothing to say. I’m the most boring person to talk to.”
He admitted that his record label, Universal Republic, was leaning on him to do more press.
“[2012’s] Trilogy was a re-release, but [Universal Republic Records] still said, ‘Maybe you should do some interviews,’ ” he says. “Honestly, I want to do interviews now because it’s one thing that I haven’t mastered.”
He cited some legendary artists who were notoriously press-shy but still granted interviews. “Even Prince did interviews. Michael [Jackson] did interviews. In addition, I can tell in the interviews they are uncomfortable. Why are they doing this? Because they feel like they have to do it to be a complete artist. I felt like this was my time.”
When asked if his shroud of mystery was intentional, the singer gave a typically ambiguous answer.
“Yes and no,” he said. “In the beginning, I was very insecure. I hated how I looked in pictures. I just f–king hated this s–t, like, crop me out of this picture right now. 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. It reminded me of some villain s–t. However, you can’t escape the Internet. There are super-fans and I was really testing their patience. At the end of the day, you can’t deny the music. That was my whole thing: I’m going to let the music speak for itself.”
