Abel Tesfaye (born February 16, 1990), better known by his stage name The Weeknd, is an Ethiopian Canadian singer. Songs recorded under The Weeknd name first leaked in late 2010, though the identity of the individual behind the project was initially unknown. The Weeknd released a nine-song mixtape, House of Balloons, on 21 March 2011. The mixtape is a part of a trilogy which includes Thursday, released on 18 August 2011, and Echoes of Silence, released on 21 December 2011.

The song “High for This” was featured in the promo for the final season of the HBO show Entourage. On June 16, 2011, House of Balloons was named as a longlisted nominee for the 2011 Polaris Music Prize. On July 6, the album was named as one of ten shortlisted nominees but eventually lost to Arcade Fire’s The Suburbs. On December 21, 2011 at 11:07 p.m. EST Tesfaye released his highly anticipated mixtape “Echoes of Silence”. The Weeknd’s site crashed shortly after due to the large number of downloads. The Weeknd quickly provided a Hulkshare link to keep the album available while the official site was down.

From Wikipedia

The Weeknd – Thursday by The_Weeknd

The fame of this mixtape is spreading way faster than his two previous ones. Today, the title was one of the most trending terms on Google and it appeared in news from such publications like Wall Street Journal, Huffington Post and The Billboard. He is undoubtedly being backed by major influences in the music industry (like Drake, who he worked with on the “Take Care” album – listen to “Crew Love” track!), nonetheless the mixtape is very worth the download for both the indie and the mainstream music lover. His talent was not noticed for nothing.

The Weeknd – The Knowing (Official Video) from xoxxxoooxo on Vimeo.

Related Links:
The Weeknd’s Official Website
The Weeknd on Facebook
The Weeknd on SoundCloud
The Weeknd on Tumblr
The Weeknd on Twitter
The Weeknd on YouTube