The Weeknd forms “strategic partnership” with Universal Republic

It’s official…The Weeknd has gone major. It was announced today that Abel and his XO movement inked a deal partnership with Universal Republic. The first release will be Trilogy, a compilation of the Balloons mixtapes that will also feature new a few bonus tracks.

The lead single will be Wicked Games, which you can expect to hit iTunes soon.

Oh yeah…and Trilogy drops November 13! Congrats, my friends….xo.

UPDATE: Official press release now attached after the jump.

Click to continue reading…

Florence + the Machine calls The Weeknd a “hologram”

As you all know, Abel will be touring with Florence + the Machine for five dates this fall (get your tickets in the sidebar!). Florence Welch recently sat down with Spinner Canada and discussed her new “mysterious” friend.

In keeping with The Weeknd figurehead Abel Tesfaye’s mysterious reputation, Welch won’t say much about him beyond explaining that the tour just came about organically one day during a conversation with the artist.

“I was a really big fan. We hung out and just figured it would be a nice thing to do,” Welch says. “I don’t want to want to burst that mysterious bubble of his, though so… I’ll just say I’ve never actually seen him — he’s a hologram!”

Source: Spinner Canada

The Weeknd announces second leg of North American tour

He’s baaaaaaaaack!

In addition to his five existing show dates with Florence and The Machine, Abel will be making some more of his own show money this Fall by embarking on yet another tour across North America, revisiting many of the cities he hit during the last tour as well as a few new ones.

All tickets will be going on sale this Friday morning (at the times specified below), so if the last tour was any indication, I would set your alarm clocks now!

September 24: Winnipeg, MB (Burton Cummings Theatre) — Tickets @ 10 AM CDT
September 26: Edmonton, MB (Edmonton Event Centre) — Tickets @ 10 AM MDT
September 27: Calgary, AB (Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium) — Tickets @ 10 AM MDT
October 16: Orlando, FL (House of Blues Orlando) — Tickets @ 10 AM EDT
October 17: Miami Beach, FL (The Fillmore Miami Beach) — Tickets @ 10 AM EDT
October 19: Atlanta, GA (Atlanta Civic Center) — Tickets @ 12 PM EDT
October 20: Charlotte, NC (The Fillmore Charlotte) — Tickets @ 10 AM EDT
October 22: Boston, MA (House of Blues Boston) — Tickets @ 10 AM EDT
October 23: Boston, MA (House of Blues Boston) — Tickets @ 10 AM EDT
October 26: New York, NY (Terminal 5) — Tickets @ 12 PM EDT
October 27: Bronx, NY (Paradise Theater) — Tickets @ 12 PM EDT
October 29: Montreal, QC (Métropolis) — Tickets @ 12 PM EDT

The Weeknd performs Wicked Games in Paris

By far one of the best live performances of any song by any artist I’ve ever seen. It’s crazy how far Abel’s live vocals and stage presence have come in the past year.

OVO Fest 2012: Drake, The Weeknd, A$AP Rocky, 2 Chainz, and more!

It’s that time of year again, my friends! The third annual OVO Festival is coming back to Toronto on August 5. Special guests include Drake, The Weeknd, A$AP Rocky, 2 Chainz, and more surprises than you could possibly prepare for.

Tickets go on pre-sale this Wednesday, June 6 at 10:00 AM EDT and on sale to the general public this Saturday, June 9 at 10:00 AM EDT. All transactions will be going through Live Nation, so be sure to check your pre-sale eligibility and the concrete times as the day approaches.

Much more info will be pouring in about the festival in the coming weeks, but NOW is the time to get those tickets! Can’t wait to see everyone there!

Drake discusses his relationship with The Weeknd

In a recent interview with MTV News, Drizzy Drake spoke on his affiliation with Abel and the importance of their chemistry as artists from T-dot.

As far as on paper, it’s all being worked out, but that’s not really what counts anyway. What counts to me is the fact that the affiliation is so known, and that’s all I really care about… I want to continue being involved in his career and vice versa and keep making music together, because you take songs like Crew Love and The Zone, that’s what people wait all night to hear… If you want to talk about evolution — a quick evolution — that’s definitely somebody who, everywhere I go, they love him. They’re that loud every single night when I say The Weeknd’s name and when he came out at the show in the Bay, it was crazy. We’re definitely a family… It’s a definitely a Toronto thing. That’s not changing at all.

1 T.O.