R&Beef: The Weeknd says Usher Copied His Singing Style in Interview with Variety
Talk About Being Put On Blast
The Weeknd clearly had some things on his chest that he wanted to get off. In his latest interview with Variety, he stated that Usher dipped into his creative pond for the hit song "Climax" produced by Diplo. He said
House of Balloonsliterally changed the sound of pop music before my eyes,” he said. “I heard‘Climax,’ that [2012] Usher song, and was like, ‘Holy f—, that’s a Weeknd song.’ It was very flattering, and I knew I was doing something right, but I also got angry.”
For the full interview click here.
Now Diplo who made "Climax" is on record vouching for The Weeknds impact influencing the record.
Now what makes this extremely odd click here, is that Ariel (a songwriter on the song) who Diplo tagged his tweet responded, kind of showing Diplo doesn't know what he's talking about:
Elijah Blake (Songwriter) who was tagged by Ariel responded
The part that really makes this odd is Aieal's last tweet
That pretty much 100% the opposite of what Diplo said, and if Ariel is being honest she is within her right to state it as such.
But it does make you wonder why Diplo would cosign such an aggressive statement by The Weeknd if it wasn't true. Especially with him knowing how creatives are sensitive about their work.
This isn't The Weeknd's first time having bold statements about contributing, in 2015 with Rollingstones he was uneasy about his experience working with Drake saying
"I gave up almost half of my album. It’s hard. I will always be thankful—if it wasn’t for the light he shined on me, who knows where I’d be. And everything happens for a reason. You never know what I would say if this success wasn’t in front of me now
Usher responded in the only way you should if you ask me:
Nothing wrong with free publicity right! The Weeknd decided to take the high road and blame the media