Despite his crooning capabilities, The Weeknd recently shared that he uncovered inspiration for his latest studio album, Starboy, through Hip Hop.
While speaking with Billboard in a newly released interview, the Canadian artist revealed that he specifically found inspiration for Starboy in the braggadocious bars of Wu-Tang Clan and 50 Cent.
“The vibe on ‘Starboy’ comes from that hip-hop culture of braggadocio, from Wu-Tang and 50 Cent, the kind of music I listened to as a kid,” The Weeknd said. “Bragging just sounds good, man. I was a teenager when I saw Scarface, and even though it was unbelievable, it’s kind of cool Tony Montana could survive all those gunshots and not feel them.
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“And there’s more than one way to do hip-hop culture,” he added. “For the chorus of ‘Secrets,’ we used The Romantics’ ‘Talking in Your Sleep’ and ‘Pale Shelter’ by Tears for Fears. It’s like hip-hop: Just grab it. We could have done the interpolation thing, but sampling the original gets the feel.”
50 Cent quickly received word of The Weeknd’s co-sign, and issued his own praise via Instagram, declaring that the Starboy singer has secured the #1 spot.
“This is crazy, I was just watching this guys video,” 50 Cent wrote in the caption to a photo of The Weeknd. “Saying damn he got something different going on. It’s next level shit,then he says I was a influence listen to(STAR BOY) the shit feel like he in the zone. The #1 spot is not available @theweeknd took that shit. #EFFENVODKA”
With the mutual swapping of praise, could a collaboration between 50 Cent and The Weeknd be in the future?
