Since The Weeknd is performing at the Super Bowl Halftime show, I thought it’d be nice to post a little guide to his discography for anyone interested in looking to do a deep dive into his work. I would’ve posted this the day of the event, but I assume that some people would probably like to go through it over the weekend.
This shares a direct overview of his released material, talking about his career and the background of the music, the videos, the meanings and all. I’ve written this from a pop perspective, keeping in mind that his history might be fairly new for general pop fans.
I also go into the storyline of the red suit character, if your interested in catching up on that narrative before the Halftime show (which will continue the story), I’ve listed the chronological order below followed by an explanation of that narrative.
I wanna be clear that the interpretations/theories are not conclusive. Abel rarely shares the metaphors or meanings behind his music. This is based on widely based on fan discussion/mutual interpretation. Fans can feel free to expand on anything in the comments.
It is important to know about Abel's backstory to get a certain perspective of where he’s coming from, especially when discussing the songs that deal with substance abuse. These recent articles cover his early years really well and share an up-to-date point of view of his success.
Variety 2020 Billboard 2021 - Also a good source for getting to know his team.
So, an essential
TL;DR is this: Abel Tesfaye came from a broken home, he was born to Ethiopian immigrant parents who split up when Tesfaye was less than seven. He then lived with his mother and grandmother, only rarely seeing his father but having a nice impression of him. His drug addiction started as soon as he was a high schooler, he turned to shoplifting to pay for this need of various substances. Soon he dropped out of high school, leaving his home the same weekend, which would later inspire his stage name, The Weeknd. The name is reference/homage to the weekend his life changed.
Quick side note, I didn’t think this post would nearly reach the character limit. So I’ve cut out excess detail and lists of producers (with the exception of After Hours since we’re in that era).
Table of contents - XO.
- House of Balloons.
- Thursday.
- Echoes of Silence.
- Trilogy.
- Kiss Land.
- King of the Fall.
- Beauty Behind The Madness.
- Starboy.
- My Dear Melancholy.
- After Hours.
XO.
XO is the record label that The Weeknd and co. created in order to publish the first mixtape (House of Balloons) and the ones that would follow afterwards. XO has a lot of meanings that have to do with what went into the music and what still goes into it. XO is what the fans call themselves, popularly with the phrase XO Till We OD (shortened to XOTWOD); another way of saying “we’re ride or die for The Weeknd and his team.”
While some argue that it could mean anything since there isn’t clear meaning to it, fans continue to associate the abbreviation with ecstasy (X) and oxycontin (O). That definition stems from XOTWOD, fans assume it’s true because of the team’s history of drug usage. While others take it as it’s classical definition “hugs and kisses” because of the consistent lyrical nature of The Weeknd’s songs.
Overtime the definition of XO is simply known as: the fans, the crew, and the label. The Weeknd is more than just one person, he comes with XO. For the sake of clarity in this writeup, I’m going to refer to his crew as XO and the fans as “the fans.”
XO still serves as a record label, the current roster is The Weeknd, Belly, Nav, and Black Atlass. It remains The Weeknd’s record label and was his first label before becoming a subsidiary of Republic Records.
Throughout his career, The Weeknd has worked with Illangelo, a Canadian producer who’s work the fans adore. Carlo “Illangelo” Montagnese was one of main the producers on The Weeknd’s Trilogy, he’s credited on each track. The fan base claims his work to be some of the most notable artistry in The Weeknd’s discography. Their work together continued with Beauty Behind The Madness, Illangelo worked on seven tracks for that album. He then returned for After Hours working on another seven tracks.
DaHeala, another Canadian producer, is another significant factor in The Weeknd’s music. Jason “DaHeala” Quenneville worked as lead producer on Kiss Land. He returned to work on six tracks for The Weeknd’s Beauty Behind The Madness, including the hit Earned It. DaHeala returned as a writer for six of the songs on Starboy. Then DaHeala worked on nine After Hours tracks, and worked as the only producewriter alongside The Weeknd for bonus tracks Missed You and Final Lullaby.
House of Balloons.
Didn't wanna make this NSFW, so here's the super clean edited cover This is a happy house. We’re happy here. (House of Balloons/Glass Table Girls)
One of the most iconic title tracks of all time. House of Balloons is about a lifestyle of drugs, sex, and partying; all in effort to drown out self-doubt. It comes from a place of wanting to make it big while doing what you can to survive, all while pretending everything’s alright. The mixtape describes various sorts of women, how they’ve had impacted the life of someone who’s already down on his luck.
Fans often refer to House of Balloons as The Weeknd’s best work. The mixtape was the first introduction the world got of XO, and it was one hell of a way to make an impression. It’s personal for the fans and Abel because it’s the only piece of work known to be based on his life. At the end of the day he’s a songwriter, with many of his albums he creates scenarios and world that he likes to explore through the music. But House of Balloons is known to be based entirely on his life. It remains The Weeknd’s most critically acclaimed work.
House of Balloons was crafted through the influences of Hip-Hip/Indie-Rock with the main focus on R&B. Through the genius of Ilangelo, the record was—and is—mesmerizing capturing the essence of a lifestyle that The Weeknd described as “anti-everything.”
House of Balloons assisted The Weeknd in gaining the attention of Republic Records, which would then host The Weeknd’s own label XO. Though hesitant at first, XO decided to partner with Republic after the co-founding brothers Monte and Avery Lipman kept coming back to Toronto solely for The Weeknd.
House of Balloons received three videos, The Knowing, Wicked Games and Twenty Eight. The Knowing was the very first video The Weeknd made, so of course it’d be something other-worldly; it essentially reflects the song itself but in a sci-fi setting. Twenty Eight represents Abel’s life after fame but also his remorse of letting captivating women into his life.
Fun fact— House of Balloons is an actual place in Toronto, it was where him and his crew lived after he dropped out of high school. They’d host parties, call girls, do drugs, and to make it less depressing they’d fill it with balloons.
Thursday.
Valerie on the cover Welcome to the other side. (Life of the Party)
Thursday consists of the same themes as HoB; sex and drugs. But there’s a twist, he’s in a semi-relationship with this girl Valerie. She’s the only one on his mind, even though they meet only one day of the week, any guesses on what day that could be? Through The Weeknd’s phenomenal voice and the insane production, we’re also presented with this story of a toxic relationship where Valerie used to have the upper hand but she no longer does when she falls for The Weeknd.
While Thursday isn’t entirely about the relationship of The Weeknd and Valerie, it consists of reflections to Abel’s life after the release of House of Balloons. The song Rolling Stone notably has a double meaning, in which Abel asks his fans if they’ll stick with him when he gets mainstream appeal and decides to change his sound.
The track Valerie wasn’t on the original release of Thursday, it added when Trilogy was released. Ending the mixtape with Heaven or Las Vegas meant that The Weeknd’s actions with and without Valerie were a result of his fatherless childhood, making him push anyone away. That meaning behind Thursday doesn’t change when Valerie is added to the track list, it just means that both want the toxic relationship back.
The Zone (feat. Drake) was the first feature The Weeknd had on any of his work, the video for it was released in November of 2012. Rolling Stone had also received a video in October of 2012. Both were directed by The Weeknd and reflect the two different aspects of Thursday. The Zone has Valerie living it up in the House of Balloons. And Rolling Stone has The Weeknd doing a photoshoot for Trilogy, reflective of the song itself.
Fun Fact— the female voice heard in Lonely Star is The Weeknd’s, he pitched his voice to make it sound like a woman’s.
Echoes of Silence.
Diana on the cover Laisse tomber les filles. Un jour c'est toi qu'on laissera. [Leave the girls alone. One day it’ll be you they will leave.] (Montreal)
Out of a dark introductory into the early life of The Weeknd, Echoes of Silence is the darkest work of his Trilogy. Let’s be honest the story here isn’t entirely ethical at times but makes for one hell of a mixtape.
Similar to Thursday, Echoes of Silence follows a storyline. After accumulating success, The Weeknd gains the attention of various women. There was this one woman (D.D.) who he liked but she initially rejected him (Montreal). The woman came back to him for his fame status and evidently fell in love with him (Outside), but now that he’s got the upper hand he treats him like a groupie (XO/The Host) and lets... bad things happen to her; she’s gotta pass a test before she can get with him. This test is either drugs or his crew (Initiation). He ultimately tells this woman that he’s not exactly longterm-relationship material, perhaps because her love is temporary (Same Old Song), because he’s Next. With the end of Echoes of Silence (originally ending on the title track) the listener is left to wonder why The Weeknd left her if he’d simply want her to stay.
As a side note— Initiation should not be condoned. It remains true that The Weeknd is a songwriter and the progression of time has changed perspectives. But a song that makes such suggestions as Initiation should not be ethically/morally claimed or celebrated.
The mixtape follows The Weeknd’s lifestyle after he’s gained all this success, he’s still the same person but now he’s gotten everything he wanted. Some tracks such as The Fall continue to emphasize his journey into stardom and his acceptance of fame being temporary. With the added Till Dawn (Here Comes The Sun), The Weeknd acknowledges the changes in his life, realizing that the old lifestyle is no longer there for him or his past lovers.
Echoes of Silence is known as an underrated gem of The Weeknd’s discography, it’s well received by fans and critically acclaimed but often brushed under the rug in discussion of his work. A lot of fans and casual listeners play the mixtapes through Trilogy rather than their respective albums. This often leads to people not playing EoS either at all or only the first few tracks, this is predominantly due to the nature of the compilation being nearly three hours long.
Fun fact— D.D. is a cover of Michael Jackson’s iconic Dirty Diana. Fans have named the woman in Echoes of Silence Diana because of this track. Various theories argue that the mixtape itself is based on the Dirty Diana itself with exaggerations of the truth, or whether or not it’s a story The Weeknd crafted based on the song.
Trilogy.
Rolling Stone video doubled as a shoot You don’t know what’s in store. (High For This.)
Trilogy is a compilation of The Weeknd’s mixtapes, House of Balloons, Thursday, and Echoes of Silence. These three mixtapes were released 3-4 months apart from one another for free digital download in 2011, they gained quite a lot of attention from various industry executives.
Prior to the release of Trilogy, The Weeknd featured on Drake’s Take Care with Crew Love. The song was Abel’s first exposure to a Rap crowd/Rap fans, more people began listening to his music after the release of Take Care. The Weeknd then featured on Wiz Khalifa’s Remember You, which served as the second single off Wiz Khalifa’s O.N.I.F.C. Following those two releases, The Weeknd released Wicked Games as the first single off Trilogy.
Trilogy was formed after The Weeknd came under Republic Records’ management. The compilation album reached a debut/peak position of 4 on the Billboard 200 while reaching number one on the US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. It’s a well received album with the highlight said to be House of Balloons, which arguably went on to influence various sorts of R&B music of the 2010s.
Videos for Trilogy Kiss Land.
Iconic I went from starin' at the same four walls for 21 years. To seein' the whole world in just 12 months. (Kiss Land)
Kiss Land is based on The Weeknd’s tour life. Visiting unfamiliar places gave Abel horror movie vibes. A guy who used to own the city (Toronto) he lived in is now a small fish in the ocean of the entire world. The Weeknd’s first studio album was a great introduction into the sound he would soon get well acquainted with.
While continuing the R&B sound with the essence of Dark Wave, the album explores emptiness and regret throughout the lyrics—or what pop fans could categorize as dark pop—. The Japanese aesthetic used for various videos and the single covers/booklet reflects the themes of feeling overwhelmed by such a loud world that there’s no point in being if you don’t belong.
The album explores the real-world and the women in it as well as regrets regarding past actions, namely letting go of women who could’ve been the one in Adaptation. The Weeknd attempts to find that satisfaction in other women and past lovers, but accidentally falls for a sex worker in Belong To The World. With Wanderlust he accepts and expresses that love in the modern world isn’t entirely possible. While continuing to tour the world he enjoys these new experiences with XO (Live For feat. Drake), as well as the new women in his life (Kiss Land). And when he’s back home, he accepts the loss of the relationship he cherished.
Kiss Land debuted and peaked at number two on the Billboard 200. It was fairly acclaimed but gained a massive cult following. There were four videos for made for the album, the title track, Belong To the World, Live For (feat. Drake), and Pretty. Those four songs received interesting visuals that kept up with their respective themes while Belong To the World/Kiss Land got visuals that matched the aesthetic of the album. To this day fans ask Abel for a part two to the horror-movie-inspired album after he said it’s the only album he would have a sequel for.
Videos for Kiss Land Fun Fact— The video for Kiss Land on YouTube is an extremely edited version of the actual video shot for the song. The directors cut further explores the erotic-horror themes if the album.
King of the Fall.
King of the Fall 2020 cover (even though I talk about three other songs here) Driving by the streets we used to walk through like a triumph. (King of the Fall)
These next few song were released between the Kiss Land and Beauty Behind the Madness era. Some fans would classify them as part of the Beauty Behind the Madness era—I’d say the same tbh—but they stand apart on the basis of success and acclaim. It’s a transition between The Weeknd being an underrated R&B musician to being a mainstream artist with massive recognition and appreciation.
The first of these four songs is King of the Fall. A fan favourite and a standout in The Weeknd’s discography. This is one of The Weeknd’s few Rap tracks, it gained a lot of attention within the Rap sphere. It was the way in which XO would announce that they’ve made it, little did they know that this was just the start.
Prior to the release of Beauty Behind the Madness (BBTM), The Weeknd gained mainstream attention. The Weeknd’s exposure to mainstream music was uphill, it wasn’t overnight. The first taste of BBTM came from Often, a song that reflected the themes of sex that Abel was known for. The track was released more than a year before BBTM’s release and had made it onto the trackless unlike King of the Fall. Slowly but surely The Weeknd gained exposure, his main sources of exposure were through a collaboration and a soundtrack.
Most pop fans heard about The Weeknd through his hit collaboration with Ariana Grande, Love Me Harder. The collab was made through Republic when The Weeknd said he wanted more than what he had gotten through Kiss Land. Ariana and Abel had formed a real bond cough The Hills cough, their bond assisted the song in becoming a memorable hit for both artists. Love Me Harder was a top ten hit on the Billboard Hot 100.
Later that year, The Weeknd was featured on the Fifty Shades of Grey soundtrack with Earned It, as well as Where You Belong. Earned It became a massive hit peaking at 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and receiving an Oscar nomination for The Weeknd; a massive milestone for XO. Earned It kept up with Abel’s signature lyrics but the production differed heavily from the sort of R&B he was known for.
Videos from that era Beauty Behind the Madness.
I can hear this image I'm that ***** with the hair singin' 'bout poppin' pills, fuckin' bitches, livin' life so trill. (Tell Your Friends)
Following the success of Love Me Harder and Earned It, the Beauty Behind the Madness era began with The Hills. This was The Weeknd’s first number one on the Billboard Hot 100. Along with the video, The Hills became an addictive classic. The production and lyrics mirror a mature version of the sound that was originally found on Trilogy. It was truly in keeping with The Weeknd’s character, the only difference was his haircut.
Next came Can’t Feel My Face, a Max Martin production that differed greatly from anything The Weeknd put out in the past. In past songs, Abel had expressed his fear of losing his following if he went mainstream simultaneously asking his fans if they’d stay. He repeats that sentiment in the Can’t Feel My Face video. The sound has changed, the lyrics stay the same but now he’s a pop-star. The song became a hit as it reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100. With this massive bop previous fans still stayed, The Weeknd becoming a pop singer didn’t at all alter his image or sound; he mastered it.
In The Night and Acquainted were released as singles on the same day, the were the only singles to come after the release of Beauty Behind The Madness. The former received a music video treatment that followed the theme of the song itself while also starring Abel’s girlfriend at the time, Bella Hadid. Acquainted was robbed of a video even though Abel had shown off the fact that a video was in development; the song kept in the tone of The Weeknd’s work prior to BBTM.
Beauty Behind the Madness captures a Hollywood-based reality that The Weeknd came to understand: the dark aspects of your life will continue to follow you wherever you are. Real Life, Losers (feat. Labrinth), Tell Your Friends, Dark Times (feat. Ed Sheeran), and Prisoner (feat. Lana Del Rey) all capture a nihilistic view of a dream achieved.
Most of the videos of Beauty Behind The Madness have a mysterious white man. He’s featured in The Hills, Can’t Feel My Face, and Tell Your Friends. That man represents the devil. Throughout his journey in those videos, (The Hills) Abel runs into the devil after his car crash, (Can’t Feel My Face) he’s at the club then lights him on fire. The significance behind the fire could be selling his soul to the devil, BBTM is about Hollywood and a popular Hollywood myth is that celebrities sell their souls to the devil in exchange for fame. So in the Can’t Feel My Face video, Abel changes his sound to Pop (from R&B) thus leaving his signature sound in order to become famous, everyone starts enjoying his music once he’s sold his soul.
Then we see The Weeknd burying himself in Tell Your Friends, perhaps leaving the old Abel behind after the deal with the devil. However, instead of thanking the devil, Abel takes his revenge and shoots him. But wait, there’s more! The album trailer for BBTM features the devil burning a billboard with The Weeknd’s face on it, revealing Beauty Behind The Madness. HOWEVER, the final cut for the video features the devil being arrested while The Weeknd watches. This is a more realistic form of karma that the devil gets.
Videos for BBTM Starboy.
Filled with bops If I could, I'd trade it all, trade it for a halo. And she said that she'll pray for me, I said, "It's too late for me.” (Ordinary Life)
After the massive success of Beauty Behind the Madness, there was a lot of hype around what The Weeknd would do next; evidently he decided to explore Pop. The fandom he had gained wasn’t entirely based in the Pop sphere, his fans consisted of general Rap fans, but Starboy attracted the Pop audience.
Initially, most of his older fans couldn’t get behind Starboy, it differed greatly from the previous sound. It was crazy to think that the guy who made Trilogy managed to make such a Pop-centric album. But this was Abel expressing his versatility.
Since this is where most pop fans found out about Abel’s work and became fans I won’t talk too much about the singles, rather more about the album itself. His work with Daft Punk cemented this album in an efficient mix between Pop and R&B, where Beauty Behind the Madness was more R&B with Pop, Starboy was considered Pop with R&B.
Beyond the genres, Starboy explores two evident themes. One being his life with fame and recognition. The next being his love life in Hollywood, this aspect of the album came from his relationship with Bella Hadid which ended after the release of the album.
The cross became the symbol for that era and appeared in the album’s photoshoot as well as the videos. There was never any conclusive word on the use of the cross but there are various theories about it, something to note is that Abel was raised Christian, it could perhaps be a reflection of his past.
The cross he uses to destroy his accolades (Starboy video) is assisting him rather than something that’s holding him back. Abel’s upbringing was rough but now he’s celebrating it rather than feeling bad for himself. The cross continues to come up in the Party Monster video, this time it’s in the party house he’s making his way through. Then it shows up in the video for Reminder, this time in the form of his merch, the people wearing it are perhaps representative of his fans. Then we see it in the False Alarm video, both Abel and the girl are wearing it; the notable thing being that Abel holds his cross up before dying. Then in the brilliant video for Secrets, after giving up on the girl he’s with he leaves the building to find a giant cross. And finally in the I Feel It Coming video, The Weeknd sports a shiny cross necklace, and Daft Punk find it years and years after Abel froze.
The videos tell us that the cross is an evident piece of his story. This could mean that his past will always be with him, no matter what sort of fame he’s experiencing he’ll always be who he once was.
Also, I’m gonna take this moment to once again the genius that is the Secrets (both the song and the video). Yes it’s my favourite song/video off of Starboy but it’s so underrated.
Videos for Starboy, Secrets video bottom right Fun Fact— Most demos of the tracks on Starboy weren’t as pop as they became, they started off R&B but became pop after production.
My Dear Melancholy.
Note the comma They said our love is just a game, I don't care what they say. But I'ma drink the pain away, I'll be back to my old ways. (Privilege)
Oof (but in a good way, this whole thing is a bop). For this one I’m gonna talk extensively about The Weeknd’s relationships, which personally feels really invasive but it’s but it’s essential when talking about these sad boy anthems. Beyond that I’d just like to state that though they are part of the narrative both Bella Hadid and Selena Gomez deserve respect/privacy.
So when it comes to Pop music fans I think it’s safe to say that we all know a lot about this one. My Dear Melancholy (MDM) came after the very public relationship of The Weeknd and Selena Gomez. However it’s not just about Selena, some songs reflect his relationship with Bella Hadid (whom he got back with a month after MDM’s release).
My Dear Melancholy consists with The Weeknd’s exploration/mastery of merging Pop and R&B together. The EP was praised by fans for its lyrics and production, many went on to theorize that it was his most personal project since House of Balloons. The EP was the shortest album to reach number one on the Billboard 200.
My Dear Melancholy and fan conspiracies; name a better duo. The first theory being that the EP is entirely about Selena Gomez which wasn’t too much of a mystery since the lyric “I almost cut a piece of myself for your life” exists. Not only did MDM come after Abel’s relationship with Selena Gomez but also after his relationship with Bella Hadid. As far as fans were aware those two relationships were the most important relationships Abel had ever been in.
In theory, the songs about Bella and Selena can be categorized. Call Out My Name, Try Me, and Privilege are likely about Selena. Wasted Times, and Hurt You are likely about Bella. Leaving I Was Never There to act as an introspective look into The Weeknd’s life, basically making him hop back on his vices for comfort.
Another popular theory was that My Dear Melancholy was the first of another trilogy. This rumour was widely believed due to the comma at the end of the title on the album cover. But the fans soon gained a real reason to believe this theory, since the CEO of XO (the record label), Sal had liked an Instagram post that featured the cover and alleged date. Since Trilogy is a fan favourite this conspiracy spread like wild fire, so much so that fake titles and covers were made. The name of this trilogy would be: (1)My Dear Melancholy, (2)We’re Alone Together, (3)Abel.
Only one song served as a single for the EP. Call Out My Name was released nearly two months prior to the actual release of the album, it debuted/peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100. The mysterious video captures The Weeknd in various atmospheric places that reflect the tone of the EP, a haunting yet unexplained reality that the listener is to reflect on.
From the cover, to the music, to the video, to lyrics, My Dear Melancholy is an introspective reflection of heartbreak.
Call out my name video After Hours.
Talented, Brilliant, Incredible, etc. My darkest hours. (After Hours)
After Hours comes after success but references two lows in The Weeknd’s life. The album welcomes darkness and leads the listener towards a dead-end. The Weeknd’s past two albums (Beauty Behind The Madness and Starboy) ended on hopeful notes, they left the listener with a sense of hope but all hope his lost with After Hours.
Fans compare After Hours to House of Balloons—a rare occurrence considering House of Balloons’ acclaim—arguing that both albums are on the same level. Debate continues on whether or not both albums are on the same caliber. The belief that After Hours stems from reality does a lot to help its side of the argument.
The era began with Mercedes-Benz commercial that featured Blinding Lights, that was our first taste of the everlasting bop. Heartless was premiered on an episode of Memento Mori hours before its release on the 27 of November (2019), Blinding Lights was released two days later. Both videos were as brain melting as promised and the served as the tip of the iceberg.
After Hours was released nine days after COVID-19 was declared a pandemic, there was a massive risk in releasing an album that would not have a lot of promotion after it’s release (other than magazine coverage). There was no telling whether or not people would pay attention to the album during the height of the fear surrounding the pandemic, but it was a massive success. After Hours debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, with singles Heartless and Blinding Lights topping the Billboard Hot 100.
The album is layered with haunting productions that remains predominantly R&B but dives deep into Pop with some of the tracks. Max Martin produced the massive hit Blinding Lights as well as In Your Eyes, Save Your Tears, Hardest to Love, and Scared to Live which samples Elton John’s Your Song. Other notable producers include Metro Boomin who worked on the hit Heartless as well as Escape from LA, Faith, and Until I Bleed Out. With Kevin Parker on the interlude Repeat After Me.
Beyond the production are the narrative driven lyrics. In theory the album references two significant events in Abel’s life, his second breakup with Bella Hadid and his arrest in Las Vegas. The latter was due to his misbehaviour; in January 2015 he punched a cop in Vegas, lmao. Which means that After Hours is a recollection of The Weeknd’s first few years in LA. He merges the concept of his breakup with the idea of being an upcoming star, feeling free in the city of lights all while diving deep into the meaninglessness of those lights.
While After Hours starts with loneliness and a second chance it leads up to Abel returning to his vices of lust. In Alone Again his loneliness caught up to him and he’s asking for a second chance. He acknowledges his mistakes and situation in Too Late/Hardest to Love, in Scared to Live his ex then returns to him for a second time. He remembers his past ways in Snowchild and the way in which it lead to better days, but where do you go after such highs? In Escape From LA he faces the superficial reality of Hollywood, glad that he got that he got back with his ex, while continuing to question if it’s worth it. But he fucks up the second chance when she pulls up to the studio.
Who is she? Much like the other mysteries surrounding The Weeknd’s music, we may never know. Is it all more of The Weeknd’s songwriting ability or is it driven by reality? Fans found a merge between the two to be more accurate, After Hours is about heartbreak and a return to the vices that held The Weeknd back.
Heartless is when The Weeknd is once again back to his ways, he may have been in a serious relationship but after throwing that away he spirals back to the way he once was. It’s sad but it’s one hell of a song. Speaking of brilliant songs, Faith is when Abel admits that he’s back on his vices, he states that he needs his ex back with him till the end; he’s back to self-loathing.
So when he says he’s blinded by the lights, there’s two meanings to it. The Faith outro tells us that he’s in a car with flashing lights, a cop car (as confirmed by Abel) to be exact. Then Blinding Lights tells us that while he’s watching the bright lights of Vegas pass him by he calls out for the girl that he regrets losing. That is the peak of the After Hours narrative. He’s behaving badly over the loss of the girl he loved and is now at the worst position trying to find her and gain her trust for a third time.
Following Blinding Lights is In Your Eyes, this is where The Weeknd vows not to judge her; he can see right through her but will never do anything to make her upset. Does this mean their back together? Not exactly. Save Your Tears details a sort of moving-on that The Weeknd isn’t ready for but tries to help her move on, blind to his own inability to move on. Does it work? Not really. Repeat After Me (Interlude) shows that he’s still trying to convince himself that he’s unfazed by the loss of a meaningful relationship.
Then you hear a true masterpiece. The title track is a spiral into true regret and an apology for his actions, he admits that his ex girlfriend is the only reason he lives. In a dark lonely city she’s the only one keeping him sane. But his pleas fail, Until I Bleed Out is when The Weeknd no longer wants her in his life so much so that he wants to erase his memory of anything related to her. The bonus tracks then echo the final sentiment.
It’s one sad ass album, ain’t it. But here’s where the Red Suit Character comes in.
Shoutout to the makeup department The album isn’t the only narrative to follow with After Hours. The videos for the album follow their own sort of narrative. The story follows an unnamed guy that goes by “red suit character” according to The Weeknd.
There’s a lot of confusion and endless theories surrounding this character’s story, after The Weeknd confirmed that it’s about a decent into Hollywood culture it makes more sense… kind of. I’m gonna discuss the storyline without talking about the movies that have influenced it, this way the focus remains on the character.
The order of these videos is
Heartless /
Blinding Lights /
Blinding Lights (Live on Kimmel)* /
After Hours short film /
In Your Eyes /
Until I Bleed Out /
Snowchild /
Too Late /
Live at AMAs* /
Save Your Tears *Though all live performances could count as part of the narrative, these one relate directly with the videos that follow.
He’s is first seen in Vegas with Metro Boomin (Heartless), intoxicated on various substances. He dives deeper into his high until he licks a frog, after that he faces the true effects of this high. He’s frightened by the result and runs far away from Vegas. (Blinding Lights) He’s then found in LA, where he’s dancing in the street, hypnotized by the singer, beat up by guards, and races past all those bright lights in his Benz. Ultimately realizing the shallowness of the Los Angeles fantasy.
(Blinding Lights Live on Kimmel) We then find him performing Blinding Lights live, while he attempts to find more reason in within the madness city; he couldn’t find it on the streets so he goes to the stage. (After Hours short film) Even then there’s no meaning to anything in the city, he mindlessly wanders into the depth of the subway where he’s dragged by the reality of it all and ends up possessed. (In Your Eyes) After being possessed he chases the woman whose boyfriend he just murdered, she runs into a club falls deeper into the After Hours fantasy, in a successful attempt to defend herself she beheads the red suit character and dances all over LA with his head, iconic behaviour.
(Until I Bleed Out) Then in an ethereal dreamscape, red suit character finds himself in a House of Balloons. He’s trying to escape, but the people there keep pulling him in; he’s getting higher while observing Glass Table Girls. He spirals into the antarctic, the other side of the world. From Heatless to this point in his story, his vices lead him back to the lowest point in Abel’s life. Is it Hell, Heaven or Las Vegas? (Snowchild) He relives his career up until the point where his story began. Considering he’s dead, his life basically flashed before his eyes.
(Too Late) LA girls find the red suit character’s head and live their best life. They wanna have sex with him so they find the best boy parts by calling up a stripper who could be the body. The stitch the head up with the body and do what they want. But now he’s brought back to life. (Live at AMAs) He’s had work done… He went in to get his nose fixed and the doctor said “you sure that’s all you want?” The red suit character’s face is healing while he tries to celebrate his life on top of a bridge.
(Save Your Tears) Surrounded by a masked cult he debut’s his new face. Do they like it? Are they impressed? Not instantly, their masks translate no expression so how’s he to know? Is any of this worth it? Nope red suit character continues to die inside. He finds a maskless girl in the crowd, she’s lively unlike the rest; but even then, nothing on the inside nothing on the outside. He wants death again, somehow a second chance with this city is still pointless. He tries to kill himself via the girl and himself but it’s all a facade; theatrics.
His story continues but that’s all we know so far.
The videos make a lot of film references. This post by explain these references very well, as well as past album references here (part one) and here (part two).
After Hours is inspired by a lot of movies, since Abel is in fact a cinephile. The main movies that inspired the aesthetic and storytelling are believed to be Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998), Casino (1995), Joker (2019), Uncut Gems (2020), and After Hours (1985). The album tells two sad narratives but remains one of The Weeknd’s best works yet. He’s expanded his videography and enhanced the interest of people who casually enjoy his music and of course his fans.
But the era isn’t over, by the time this is posted his Super Bowl Halftime show is yet to happen. And it’ll continue the red suit character’s story.
Videos for After Hours (so far) Fun Fact—The Heartless video features a reference to Thursday. When he’s trying to run from Vegas, a sign behind him flashes “Heartless / Heaven or Las Vegas.” This could be a reference to Abel running from his past, after all Heartless is about him returning to his vices.
END.
Thank you for reading this, again, I didn’t realize it would end up being this long. But I hope this this served as a nice refresher for any fans who wanted to revisit Abel’s work before the Super Bowl.
And I really hope that anyone interested in getting into his music finds this helpful. Once again, the theories/interpretations mentioned aren’t conclusive, they’re widely based on fan discussion/mutual interpretation.
Due to the character limit I couldn’t add too links to the albums, so here are some artist links.
Apple Music |
Spotify |
YouTube |
The Weeknd’s Shop |
Tidal |
Genius I posted some pics the other day of my 2013 trip to the Monaco GP. Someone mentioned they were interested in some practical tips for the race as they planned to tick it off their bucket list. Here are some that I wrote up a few years back.
How much will it cost me? So, it’s not a cheap exercise – but it doesn’t have to bankrupt you unless you want it to.
Tickets are expensive (more on that later), however the rest of it really isn't too bad. You can dial it up & down as much as you want. I'll base this on the assumption that the person reading it is a normal human being, and won't be requiring helicopter transfers from Nice airport to The Fairmont Hotel. Some indicative costs below:
2/3 star hotel with sea views (staying within 15 mins train of Monaco): <€150/night 5cl beer at the track (which you can drink in the stands): €5 Ham sandwich/kebab at the track: €4 Train from Nice: €5 Two course lunch & some drinks at a half-decent restaurant in Monaco: €35pp Team hat/shirt: €30-40
Sweet. Where do I sit? Well, you need to buy grandstand tickets - there is no such thing as general admission & you cannot see the track from anywhere in Monaco except the grandstands (or secteur rocher - I'll get to that) - there's hoarding everywhere to block views.
Widely regarded as the "best" views are Stand K1 "high". This is the first stand at Tabac corner on the harbour, seated at the back of the stand (high up). It has views of Nouvelle Chicane, the run into Tabac, Tabac corner, and the entry into Swimming Pool. If you’re in the back row, you can also stand up & peer over the edge onto the main straight. The only downside is you are not quite so close to the cars. I did K1 "low" in the very front row, and while you don't quite get the panoramic views that the upper seats get, you are literally 2m from the cars as they go past at 160km/h. And if Max Chilton punts Pastor Maldonado into the wall in front of you, you get a face full of dust & a carbon fibre winglet off a Williams F1 car to keep
Anywhere in Stand K is brilliant as you have the widest views of the track, a screen, and you're right across from the boats which is a pretty iconic Monaco GP view.
Also great was Stand B - Casino Square. You are sitting directly opposite Casino Monte Carlo, again with a screen right in front of you. The cars are not as quick through here, but regardless of how many times you've seen the race on TV, it is a bizarre sight to see F1 cars going through what is usually a busy carpark. The sound here (IMO) was much louder & better too - must have been all the echoing off buildings etc.
The best way is to jump on YouTube and look for views from various stands - you'll get a good idea pretty quickly (in French the word for grandstand is ‘tribune’ – so search “Monaco grand prix tribune k” for example). I would definitely recommend stand K & B (in that order) - maybe do a mix i.e. stand B on Saturday, Stand K on Sunday. I’m sure the other stands are fine, however I have no experience with them so can’t say.
Note: when you buy Saturday & Sunday tickets, you get tickets for Thursday Free Practice included for no cost.
Budget up to €700pp for tickets if doing a full weekend.
Book directly through the Automobile Club Monaco website (
www.acm.mc) - it is a horrible website, the ticketing UX sucks balls, and it only seems to work on Internet Explorer but persevere. They will send your tickets via registered post to your address & mine came in about Jan/Feb (ahead of the May race).
Hmm....not sure I can justify spending $1k pp on tickets. No problem, there is another option. Secteur Rocher is a rocky hill near La Rascasse, and you can buy tickets to that for about €70 I think. There is no allocated seating so it's first in best dressed (meaning you'll need to get there early), however it has great (albeit a bit distant) views of the track and excellent views of the pits.
How do I get around while I’m there? To get to Monaco, take the train. It costs €5 each way, trains leave every 15mins or so, and it only takes 10-15mins. The last train leaves Monaco at around 11.30pm.
It’s then only a short (but steep) walk from the train station to the grandstands, and everything’s clearly signed. The little ticket machines at the station are super easy to use too.
The roads are pretty diabolical on this weekend (the Cannes Film Festival is usually on around the same time 30mins up the road so you have all these people there at once) so buses are out, and a cab between Nice & Monaco apparently costs €250 each way on race weekend. If you have a bigger budget, helicopter transfers are easy to come across & aren’t as expensive as you might think (probably comparable to a cab).
Once you’re in Monaco, just walk everywhere. It’s tiny. The great thing is you can watch quali in the stands, then walk a few hundred metres to a myriad of half-decent (and sensibly priced) restaurants to have lunch/drinks while you wait for the next session to start.
Where do I stay? If you have the budget, stay in Monaco if you can. While getting around is super easy, it would have been easier to just wander back to the room at the end of each day. I wouldn’t pay €500 a night or anything, but if you can get something for, say €200-250 I’d do it. That might be a bit optimistic though.
Otherwise, the obvious answer is Nice, but to be honest I (personally) would prefer to stay in a smaller town. I stayed in Villefranche-sur-Mer, but you could try Eze, Cap Ferrat or Bealieu-sur-Mer. They’re just a bit quieteprettier than Nice. Villefrance was nice & relaxed – plenty of places to eat & drink but no hustle & bussle. It was good to leave hectic/noisy Monaco behind at the end of each day and just chill in a nice quiet little town. Pretty much just look at the map & pick a town that looks nice. As mentioned, landing a sea-view room during GP weekend for under €150 is achievable (in any of the towns a few minutes outside Monte Carlo).
What else is there to do there? Shitloads. The track opens to the public after each session (around 6pm) and then opens to traffic at 7pm. The restaurant La Rascasse turns into this massive party that spills out on to the road/track…DJs, drinks, the whole box & dice. Hundreds & hundreds of people there.
All the restaurants and bars are packed & have plenty on. There’s stuff going on in the street (merchandise, Lotus had a stand where you could drive their sim, live music in the street), beers everywhere. Lots to see.
You can go up to Casino Square, which can only be described as a circus on Saturday night. I’m not kidding, it is wall to wall rich kids posing in supercars. You are standing there watching a 20yr old kid rolling past the casino in an orange Aventador (on Kuwaiti plates…meaning he has shipped it over from Kuwait for the weekend), just wondering to yourself “who are these people?!” Young girls driving McLarens, Veyrons, SLRs, an Aston One77, Ferraris, you name it. You know the most recent Batmobile? That was there. As was a RR Phantom painted in camo green. It’s mental.
You can take a walk along the yachts & be surprised at how depressing the yacht parties look. It’s basically a bunch of rich dudes with Russian hookers all looking bored with each other, or some Poms who all bought tickets to the same VIP yacht package awkwardly trying to have a good time but failing.
You probably can’t go to any of the nice restaurants or bars. They are generally private events for special people only…I watched people getting turned away from Buddha Bar while playboys and socialites breezed in. Gotta be a part of the club.
Is everyone there millionaires? Nope. The crowd were mostly just genuine F1 fans from all over the world. LOTS of Aussies. My missus was a bit worried about what to wear thinking everyone was gonna be dressed up…nope.
All the billionaires are segregated in their viewing terraces or yachts.
You can generally tell who the special people are – they are always tanned, have perfect teeth. The men wear Hublot Big Bangs/AP Royal Oak Offshores, and the smoking hot women are dressed head to toe in Chanel. They are all a bunch of wankers to be honest, the whole “look at how rich I am” thing is amusing for about 10 minutes and then it becomes sad.
Monaco is a procession why would I want to go there herpa derpity derp it's the worst race on the calendar Oh shut up, who cares. It’s an utterly brilliant spectacle & the atmosphere is amazing. You see the cars hammering around the track, and then when you’re walking the circuit 2hrs later & you cannot believe that they actually allow this race to happen. Like cigarettes or the IOMTT road race, if the Monaco Grand Prix was invented today you would be laughed out of the room for suggesting it. It is an absolutely absurd event that should be celebrated for existing in 2018.
Any other tips? Yeah, after the race, head down to the paddock area near the pit entry/La Rascasse. They open it up to the public around 5.30/6pm. You will be able to walk into the paddock area. You’ll see drivers, team bosses, celebrities, media, etc. I said a quick hello to Michael Douglas, Christian Horner, Adrian Newey, Esteban Gutierrez, Sergio Perez. Saw DC, EJ, Brundle & co filming their post-race shows. And shook Mark Webber’s hand & congratulated him on his podium.
If you've ever said to yourself you'll go to the race "one day", you absolutely must do it.
From:
http://www.asm-vizu.net/showthread.php?19068-Infos-provenant-du-cousin-de-la-belle-s%9Cur-du-voisin/page123 In the name of all three of us, i want to honestly apologize to everyone who's feelings are hurt, the majority of our story is true, but of course there are certain parts that you can call "alternative truth"...we did all of this on our own, nobody from the club told us to do it and nobody else influenced our decision, from the start we were aware that sooner or later we'll have to explain ourselves, no matter what happens before the end of August...would we do this all over again, yes we absolutey would, it sounds cold-blooded but at that point we thought it was the best solution and we still think that is was the right move...i will break down the whole story to the smallests details and i will explain what was the real truth and what was the "alternative truth", hopefully some of you will understand us, and for others who are most definitely insulting us while they are reading this, it's alright, we don't mind it at all, we knew the risk and we accept the responsibility...
There are so many private messages and too many replys in this topic, so i really can't answer you all, i'm writing this first without knowing what you asked or commented while i was gone, if this huge post doesn't provide answers for your questions that you might asked, feel free to ask me again, either here or through private messages...please, i know that there are plenty of questions about our family and hopefully you will understand that i won't provide you certain answers for various reasons, most things about our familly are true, especially about father, while both son's education is purposely misleading for the reasons that i won't get into...also, nobody from our family has permission to meet in person with people who aren't in their inner circles, we are heavily protected and everybody new must go through tough security check, it sounds super shady, but that's the case with most similair families who are in our position, safety is always our priority...we are best friends with Fedorychev and we have good relationship with Rybolovlev and Vasilyev, we are also very good with Prince Albert, so don't worry about us, we know what we are doing and our motivation was very clear, so please avoid questions about our family and concentrate only on the questions about our football club...
Did you ever watch some movie that's based on a true story, but while you're watching you notice that certain things are added for dramatic effect, well that's exactly what we did, we needed to hype the story so that it has stronger effect...Ronaldo is not a done deal, that was the biggest "alternative truth", but there are resonable chances that we can get him this summer, i'll start from the beginning and i'll explain you his case...he indeed reached out to Rybo with desire to join Monaco in the near future, that has happened few months ago, but the chances of that actually happening were slim at best, until the whole tax fraud case in Spain, after that he became more and more unhappy in Madrid and his agent started sending signals to us that we should keep all our options on the table if the deal can be done, but still nobody really believed that it's possible to get Ronaldo this summer...then, on July 10 there was conversation between Vadim and Perez about possible Mbappe's transfer to Real, during that talk Florentino suggested that maybe we can give them €50M along with Mbappe if he receives transfer request from Ronaldo, but he didn't promise anything...after that meeting, we took number 7 from Rony Lopes just in case if something concrete happens before the transfer window ends, also Tielemans will get number 10 once Mbappe leaves, while Ghezzal will take number 17, meanwhile he will wear number 12...this is the absolute truth, but it wasn't bombastic enough, so we had to add special effects, there are 50% chances of Ronaldo coming to Monaco before the transfer deadline, it's still much better than 0%, but it's far from a done deal...we took the risk and predicted ahead that the deal will be made, we are still very optimistic that everything will be exactly how is planned, of course it's a huge gamble, it's like going to casino and putting all your chips on color red, hoping that everything will end perfectly...in either scenario we would come clean, if transfer happened or not, we planned to explain our actions and to apologize to all Monaco fans, this wasn't about creating something that doesn't exist, it was just getting ahead of everybody and putting things in proper context, sooner or later we would explain everything, no matter the outcome...
Why we did this in the first place...we wanted to pressure Rybolovlev to buy Ronaldo, it sounds stupid doesn't it, but don't jump to conclusions, there is a method behind the madness, we are doing very similar stuff in the business world, so we just applied the same approach here...in most cases leaking about something while the work is still in progress behind the scenes doesn't lead to the positive outcome, but this case is much different and here we needed to give a little extra push...when i say we wanted to "pressure" Rybo, don't take the meaning of the word literally, we wanted to "use" our fans and create enough excitement and hype, so that all this negativity about everything that is happening disappears, and that our fans start spreading positive messages to our club in all forms online, both on message boards and on various social media platforms, we wanted to reverse their negative feelings into positive vibes, we wanted to redirect their attention from probable departures to possible arrivals...
Now, listen to this carefully...everything that we said about Rybo and Vadim is completely true, but we left out one thing in order to present that everything was always perfect, so let's get back to the summer of 2014 and Falcao's exit, that was the only time when our President started rethinking about his future with our football club...when some of our fans started demanding that club gives them back money that they spent for season tickets, because we lost both James and Falcao, without bringing anyone of significance to replace them, when people were basically laughing at arrival of unknown Bernardo Silva who played for Benfica B, that was the moment when Rybolovev took all of that very personally and he was incredibly disappointed at out fans reaction after everything he did in order to save our club from going down to third league...everything that has happened that summer was a result of Financial Fair Play, because once Rybo saw the punishment that City and PSG received, he knew that we will be hitted even harder next year if we don't start cleaning our books...Vadim did everything humanly possible to balance our books and to still keep all other players even though Moutinho and some other guys started receiving offers, that summer totally redefined our initial project, and as i said it before, if there wasn't FFP, then Rybo would invest three times more money during the first couple of seasons, just like Abramovich did when he took over Chelsea, but rules are much different today than they were 14 years ago...also, when some of our fans wrote "Mendes Mafia" and when they started talking all over the place how our Russians only came to the club for financial reasons, without any real sports ambitions, and that they will very soon sell everything that we have, fill their pockets with cash and quickly disappear, well both Rybo and Vadim took that to their heart and they couldn't believe how all of a sudden our fans are so spoiled and how come their memory is so short...we always had PR problem, that summer was also the time when our President's name was in various tabloids with bombastic headlines, so pretty much the whole world started believing that he lost half of his fortune overnight and that he and Prince had terrible relationship, and none of that was true, but even today pretty much all of football fans who don't follow Monaco closely think that those things were true...again, the only reason why he had to dramatically changed our project was FFP and nothing else, in the end we were successful during that transition, even though there was strict monitoring of our books by UEFA, Rybo couldn't pump more of his personal money because of the rules and we were basically limited in how much money we can offer to our own players, so other rich clubs were able to offer bigger salaries to our players and we had to sell them in order to clear our books as soon as possible...that summer was the only time when Rybolovev had doubts about continuing as our President and majority owner, and the main reason were our own fans who got used too quickly on overnight succeess after Ligue 2, that they couldn't accept anything less than being on the same level as PSG...
Let's fast-forward to this summer, because something very similar started happening when the transfer window opened, all of a sudden our fans forgot that we won title after 17 years and that we dethroned our rivals from Paris even though our budget seemed laughable compared to their that's backed by the whole foreign state...from the day that Silva was sold to City and until the day that we signed Ghezzal, there was so much negativity towards our club from our own fans all over the Internet, soon all of that quickly reached the highest levels and once again, Rybo started to take it personally, not as bad as three years ago, but bad enough that he started rethinking about going after Ronaldo seriously, because if our fans are acting like that, after we had the best season in the history of our club, then what's the point of breaking the bank for Ronaldo if nobody really appreciates everything that he and Vadim did for us, during good days and during less successful days, why going all-in and making big financial risk to get one of the best players in the history of football, if our fans will quickly turned their back if things become a little more challenging for whatever reason, the level of negativity was like we have fallen to Ligue 2 once again and there's no light at the end of the tunnel...instead of having more confidence in the people who saved us from misery, fans get caught in the moment and they take every single rumour so personally and literally like the world is ending tomorrow if we sell player A and buy player B, of course football is all about business and fans are all driven by their emotions, well people who run the club also have emotions and Russians have tendency to take things too personally if they feel that their work isn't appreciated enough, so every bad word that reaches Rybo and Vadim can have certain effect, and this summer there's almost nothing else than bad words about how we are handling transfer window and pretty much everybody forgot how much obstacles we had in the past and how much successful we were last season...people were bashing Silva and Lemar because they were unknown, but now they can't live without them, they were bashing Mendy because OM fans were making fun of us for signing someone who can't even walk correctly, but overnight he became fan favorite, pretty much majority of young players that came in the past were welcomed with over-the-top scepticism, but in a year or two they became untouchable in the eyes of our fans...so instead of having more faith in our scouting departement and in our coaching stuff, everybody wants only confirmed superstars and everything else is disaster in advance, so instead of giving a chance to new players to prove themselves, fans already know that Mboula has low football IQ, that Diakhaby is average at best, that Lopes isn't even for Ligue 2, that Ghezzal only played two good games in his life, both against Monaco, that Imbula should retire because he lost all his talent overnight, that Jorge is too soft for french league, that Kongolo better switch to basketball, that Carrillo should change career to became construction worker, that Sylla is more suited for 100m sprint than football pitch, and so on and on...
Spreading story ahead of time about possible transfer where Ronaldo ends up in Monaco was the only way to stop negativity, of course some people are always negative no matter what, but good number of fans are driven by current events and their mood goes up and down depending on current rumours, in one hour they can go through all stages of human emotions, so it was very important to deliver really big and powerful rumour that will immediately change their mood and hopefully keep them in more positive state no matter what else is circulating in the rumour mill..saying the real truth that we have solid chances to get Ronaldo, but that many factors are in play, simply isn't powerful enough, you could say that about any given player, we needed clear and defined message that Ronaldo is a done deal and that everything else are just small details to be solved...the reality is that Ronaldo indeed has desire to come and that Monaco will do everything in their power to make that transfer, also it's true that Mendes and Perez have verbal agreement that Ronaldo's real release clause is at least five times smaller than the number in the contract that serves only for marketing purposes, so Monaco is willing to talk and Real is willing to listen, chances of getting Ronaldo are 50%...numbers concerning his transfer and his future salary are fabricated, we came up ourselves with those calculations, it's true that Perez said to Vadim how Ronaldo is worth at least Mbappe and additional €50M, so we used common sense and knowing the price of Neymar's transfer and various sums demanded by Monaco for Mbappe, we thought that €230M is the right numbers, just like we thought that Ronaldo's salary has to be bigger than what he's getting now, plus it would be logical that he wants bigger number than what Messi or Neymar are earning, so we came up with more than €30M...also, Ronaldo wasn't in the Principality few nights ago, but he had meetings with Bernard Arnault during his summer break and we heard strong whispers about LVMH thinking to invest more than €200M in CR7 luxury brand for 49% of ownership stake, so when Bernard Arnault popped up in Monaco few days ago, it was perfect to mixed up real and alternative truths, even though we were perfectly aware that everybody will be suspicious how come nobody saw Ronaldo in Hotel De Paris, we wanted that strong dramatic effect...also, of course he didn't had any dinner, but he had multiple meetings with both Falcao and Jardim in the previous months on various locations, it was more friendly oriented, but they did exchanged few words about potentially being on the same team...everything that was said about friendship between Rybolovlev and Ronaldo is also absolutely true, just like everything that was said about Rybo and Mendes and their various business and personal ties, the desire to bring Ronaldo is stronger than ever, but with such a big transfer there are much more complications than casually presented by us how it's a done deal...his 007 presentation is of course nothing but big "alternative truth" and those things can't be arranged until the contract gets signed, but we added up for dramatic effect because people can easily picture Ronaldo in elegant suit entering Monte Carlo Casino, doing few James Bond things and then changing into red-and white uniform and getting presented to all our fans gathered around Place Du Casino, we knew that this details will also raise eyebrows when people read it, but Ronaldo already had numerous marketing campaigns where he was dressed like Agent 007 while promoting various luxury brands...
We knew that many people won't belive in our story, even in real truth that getting Ronaldo this summer is more achievable than people think, and that dose of scepticism was enough for us to go all-in and pump the story throught the roof, so even if they don't believe, it will raise some doubts inside them that it's so crazy it might actually be true...of course, we knew that there will be people who will believe in every single word and that they will be hurt if nothing happens or if our story gets uncovered ahead of time, so once again, in the name of all three of us, i'm deeply sorry if we caused you some harm, we were aware that stepping on people's feelings will come back to haunt us, so we fully accept any responsability for what we did, any harsh words or insults are totally understandable and hopefully in the end you will find the way to forgive us, as i said it before, we are all Monaco fans and everyone with red and white blood in their veins is part of one big Monaco family that will stand for their beloved club both during good and bad times...for others who never believed anything that we said, and who don't believe in what is written in this big post, we just want to tell you that no matter what you think about us and about our intention, and no matter what you say about us now and in the future, we won't hold it against you and we perfectly understand your animosity after everything we did, but we are offering you hand of friendship and hopefully you can also forgive us one day, because we all have one thing in common that keeps us awake during long nights and that puts us throught emotional rollercoaster every weekend, and that thing is called love for AS Monaco...
Our main goal of creating enough buzz for Ronaldo to Monaco rumours wasn't intended for journalists, we couldn't care less if they will pick up something or find out on their own that there is reasonable chance of that deal coming to fruition...we wanted to get our own fans excited so that every time our club posts something on social media, they get flouded with positive comments and with Ronaldo mentions, just like how fans negativity quickly reaches to Rybo and Vadim, the same applies for positivity, if there is enough buzz from our fans, then Rybo will get even more motivated to do everything possible and bring Ronaldo now when many things are playing in our advantage, we had to stop negative comments from our fans and all Ghezzal trash talk that was talking place when he signed, so that people can concentrate on Ronaldo and his possible arrival...our little story lasted four full days and we knew that we can't last more than a week because we left enough breadcrumbs behind while creating all of this, plus ever since day one there was much bigger interest than we expected and suddenly the story started circulating all over the place, so more and more people were determined to haunt us down and i'm glad it came from our own fans, rather than from journalists who where working their sources like crazy in order to find out is there any credibility to all of this...as i said, we know how wrong it was to play with other people's feelings, but we felt that is was the right move to make and we would do it all over again, we feel that only something so dramatic can change the overall conversation that's dominating this summer among our fans, which is mostly highly negative, so by risking to hurt some people along the way, we decided to carefully craft our story, using mostly true facts, but decorating it with spicy details and other bombastic stuff so that there is enough of buzz created...
This should be enough, hopefully i explained our motivation and you can see what in our story was true and what was added like special effects, everything that was said about Mbappe, Lemar, Fabinho and the reasons about selling our players was true, except that if we can't get Ronaldo, we will try our best to strengthen our team with other proven talent that becomes available on the market...everything about Mbappe's father was true and while club wanted to keep him after season ended, more and more teams where chasing him while proposing much bigger salary than what we were prepared to offer him, so very soon it became clear that he won't extend and that it's better to sell him now while his price is incredibly high, instead of risking of losing him for peanuts or some potential injury that would dramatically decrease his market value...when we created this story, we wanted to protect Mbappe and tell everyone how he's willing to stay one more year, but that club is determined to sell him, we did this knowing that otherwise our fans will start harassing him online, just like what is happening right now, his father should receive all the blame, while Kylian should get a pass...chances of going to Real are still sky high, while City and PSG are very unlikely options, our club will try everything to use him like the main tool for getting Ronaldo, but things are complicated and hopefully our fans can remain a little bit more patient in the next three weeks, please show more support to Rybo and Vadim, because they didn't came to make money, they are here only because of their true passion for Monaco and they are planning big things for the future, your positive energy and words of support on message boards and social media platforms will give them more reasons to make us all happy...there are plenty of journalists and insiders with their special "sources" that are in 90% of situations just false, either planted on purpose by some agent or by some club, or completely made up in order to sell more newspapers and to get more clicks on the Web...so don't take every word literally, wait until something really happens, wait until it becomes official, don't jump the gun and don't get caught up in the moment, re-evalute every information that you hear, things are not always black or white like they seem, this is all one big grey area and multiple sides have multiple interests to do or say something during transfer window that might be true or not...
All in all, hopefully you understand better the whole story and why we did this and what was our motivation, wait until the transfer deadline and after that we can all togheter see how everything was handled and what was the final result...i don't have time to read private messages now or to read your replys before this post was made, but please feel free to post your questions if you have them, either here or throught private messages, and when i come back tomorrow morning i'll give my best to provide you more answers...we feel good that we did this and we think that it was needed at that moment, people can belive us or not, they can insult us or not, but we are the least important thing, as long as our fans are showing enough respect for our beloved club, and especially for Rybo and Vadim, we are perfectly fine with taking all the blame if something doesn't go according to the plan...AS Monaco will never be on the same level as the biggest clubs in the world, looking at all things combined, both on and off the court, but it can be the sexiest club on the planet and with everything that our President has planned for the future, from new traning center to fixing Stade Lous II, there are so many reasons for all of you to stay optimistic, and no matter what happens until the end of this transer window, we will always be one big red and white family...
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