The Weeknd has embraced being compared to MF DOOM after donning a similar-styled mask during a tour stop in Algés, Portugal.
The Canadian crooner sported the mask during the entirety of his After Hours Til Dawn show on Tuesday (June 6). When Complex shared a tweet referring to the XO leader as “MF Abel,” he retweeted the post, showing support for his new moniker.
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The Weeknd has long shown support for the late Doomsday lyricist, often posting his music to his Instagram Story.
He posted a broken heart emoji on IG following DOOM’s unexpected death in 2020.
Despite his passing, fans may get new MF DOOM music sooner rather than later. Madlib recently confirmed that his long-awaited Madvillainy 2 with DOOM will soon see the light of day, nearly 20 years after the first iteration arrived.
The Beat Konducta made the announcement during a visit to Hot 97, where he appeared alongside Talib Kweli to promote their latest joint project Liberation 2.
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Madlib had previously doubted the project would ever be released, but said that DOOM’s passing ultimately changed these plans.
“We have like 10 joints,” the producer told host Peter Rosenberg. “[It’s] just not complete. It’s more like a demo to me because we didn’t piece it together or anything and some of them it sounds like he just did one take and that’s it. [But] I’m gonna finish it. I gotta change a lot of the beats because some of the beats were used also.”
As for The Weeknd, he is currently getting ready to drop the soundtrack to his new HBO series The Idol, which finally premiered its first episode on June 4.
He recently dropped a new collaboration off the project with Playboi Carti and Madonna titled “Popular,” and announced that he plans to drop a new track each week alongside new episodes The full album will be released at the end of Season 1.
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“I was planning on dropping the whole soundtrack for idol by the finale, but I’m too hyped,” he wrote on Instagram on Wednesday (June 7). “Instead, I wanna drop new music from the show every week with each episode. I’m excited for you guys to hear what we’ve been cooking and all these incredible artists that are a part of this show.”
As The Weeknd becomes more enveloped in the TV world, he recently hinted at retiring his stage name after his next project, admitting that he wants to “kill” off his musical persona.
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“I’m going through a cathartic path right now,” the Dawn FM hitmaker told W magazine last month. “It’s getting to a place and a time where I’m getting ready to close the Weeknd chapter. I’ll still make music, maybe as Abel, maybe as The Weeknd. But I still want to kill The Weeknd. And I will. Eventually. I’m definitely trying to shed that skin and be reborn.”
