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Transcript
00:00 You probably know this.
00:01 But what you may not know are the beginnings of The Weeknd.
00:10 The Weeknd, his real name Abel Tesfai, is an artist born in Toronto
00:14 and who was raised by his mother.
00:16 At 17, he decides to leave her home to live with a friend
00:19 and at the time, he has a really unhealthy lifestyle.
00:22 He consumes all kinds of drugs, he steals to feed himself, in short.
00:25 In addition to all that, Abel feels like he has disappointed his mother
00:28 by leaving the house and becoming depressed in this way.
00:30 By doing this, he promises himself one thing,
00:32 he will never go home without becoming someone.
00:35 But he doesn't really know what to do.
00:36 The only thing he likes to do and that makes his days a little better
00:39 is making music.
00:40 And that's good because three years later,
00:42 there is another Canadian who will spot him
00:44 and this other Canadian is none other than Drake.
00:46 And that's where his life will change.
00:47 On December 12, 2010, Drake posts on his blog OVO
00:51 a sound of The Weeknd called Loft Music.
00:53 There is really no more info, there is the artist's name,
00:55 the name of the music and nothing else.
00:57 His message creates a buzz and also a mystery around The Weeknd
01:00 because everyone likes his music but no one knows who is behind it.
01:04 Two months later, a strange YouTube channel named xoxxoooxo
01:09 publishes a new sound of The Weeknd, What You Need,
01:11 followed two weeks later by another song, Wicked Games.
01:14 Now the hype around The Weeknd's music is created,
01:17 and yet no one knows who is behind it.
01:19 The Weeknd will play this anonymous and release his first mixtape,
01:22 House of the Balloons, by doing this kind of tweet
01:24 to show people how to listen to it.
01:26 And it works like crazy.