the weeknd beauty behind the madnessCanada has all of a sudden become rich with pop/rap/hip hop artists. Drake, Carly Rae Jepsen, Justin Bieber, Kiesza, Lights, Shawn Mendes and Grimes have all spent time at the top of the charts. You can add The Weeknd (Abel Tesfaye) to the growing list. His unique brand of dark R&B music has earned him millions of fans. His sophomore album has cemented his status as the latest “it” musician. A couple of years ago at the beginning of his career The Weeknd seemed like he wanted to float the image that he was too cool for school. Now it seems like he seems okay with going for popularity. The first single off the album is the huge hit “Can’t Feel My Face”. So huge that even Tom Cruise used it as the song he lip synced to on Jimmy Fallon’s show. It confirms that the guy is not an outsider rather he is a legit Top 40 act. So legit that he shows off his knowledge of eighties pop music by wearing his Tracy Chapman, Michael Jackson and Phil Collins influences on his sleeve over several tracks on Beauty Behind the Madness. He also shows different sides of himself for the first time on tracks like “Tell Your Friends” which allows fans to make more of a connection with him. Showing he is not too cool to be less gothy or angst filled with his lyrics and more emotional. Though there are times when he is guilty of being overly melodramatic. The last bit of evidence that he is striving for lots of album sales are the wack of big name guests that appear like Lana Del Rey, Kanye West, Ed Sheeran and producer Max Martin.