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.
“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.”
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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?
