The globally famous singer The Weeknd has had some perceptions made about him based on his music and his personality. Finally, the singer opened up about his new healthy lifestyle and addressed some of the speculations about him.
In a recent interview with GQ Magazine, The Weeknd talked about his dark persona and his decision of quitting hard drugs.
When asked about being known as a dark person, the singer said, “I am not dark. My art is dark, and I’ve gone through dark times. I’ve used those dark times as inspiration for my art. But I feel like because I’m not dark, I was able to channel it and put it into my music and into my art.”
On the other hand, talking about drugs, The Weeknd told GQ that he is “sober lite”. He said, “I like sober lite.”
However, the singer told that he still drinks. The Weeknd said, “I do. Occasionally. I’m not a heavy drinker, as much as I used to be. The romance of drinking isn’t there.” Talking about weed on the other hand, he confirmed using it. But, the singer has distanced himself from other drugs.
He said, “Drugs were a crutch. It was me thinking that I needed it. And not doing the work to figure out how not to need it. And I’ve spent the last few years realizing that and thanking God that I don’t need it. Because for a lot of people, it’s hard to shake it. But I knew I didn’t want it.”
Beside this, the singer also had a pretty explaining conversation about his name being “The Weeknd” or “Abel.”
The Weeknd, originally known as Abel Makkonen Tesfaye, explained, “Abel is someone I go home to every night. And The Weeknd is someone I go to work as.” However, the singer also accepted that he doesn’t like his stage name as much as he did before. “I still like it, but I think now it’s easy to take off that coat. I like that I have that as an option to escape Abel a little bit. I definitely loved it more back then than I do now. I love my name now, though: Abel,” said The Weeknd.
He also stated, “My fans don’t call me The Weeknd. They just call me Abel. It’s a tricky thing, but I think the name The Weeknd holds such a legacy right now. The story of that name isn’t done yet.”