And then of course there was Ethiopian music, which was played in our household. All you have to hear is the tone and the frequency, and you’re like, “Those are two Ethiopian aunties talking.” There’s a certain rhythm that you feel and a key that you hit. Because if you hear somebody speaking Amharic from miles away, you don’t have to hear the words.

Do you think that Ethiopian has influenced how your voice manifests when you sing as The Weeknd? The Ghanaian singers I know have this very specific way of singing that engages with the falsetto, and I think it’s because of speaking to their parents in their native tongue. He doesn’t know it, but he’s Ethiopian, without a doubt. TESFAYE: Tyler is absolutely East African. It’s probably because I was so excited about doing this. It’s like all of my jet lag just has coincided with this day. I feel like I look like Tedros right now.

Harris finally connected with Tesfaye over Zoom, the 33-year-old “nice Canadian guy” had literally just woken up.ĪBEL TESFAYE: Big J. So a few months before the release of The Idol-the HBO series about a pop star and the cult leader she falls in love with, which Tesfaye cocreated with Reza Fahim and Sam Levinson-he was working until dawn shooting an upcoming movie he cowrote and stars in.

But Tesfaye, a true polymath, is overflowing with ideas and has the means to make them real. As The Weeknd, he was a global pop star by the age of 25, and has earned the right to take his time between projects. Gloves Stylist’s Own.įew people in the entertainment industry grind harder than Abel Tesfaye.

Download sanctum hbo