The Weeknd shares how his music from his last album 'Hurry Up Tomorrow,' helps tell the story of his new movie of the same name, his inspiration for how the song works through the movie, why he decided to include his older songs in the movie and more with Billboard's Senior R&B, Hip-Hop & Afrobeats Writer, Heran Mamo.
00:10It's so exciting to see you venture out into, you know, different media games, but also I feel like knowing how much you love film, it's such a natural progression to see your career go this way.
00:23One thing I wanted to know is, obviously you said in previous interviews that the film came before the album.
00:28Yeah.
00:28And you hear a lot of the songs in the film, like Wake Me Up, Cry For Me, Drive, etc.
00:37Were those made specifically for the film and then later appeared on the album?
00:41And then all the other songs on Hurry Up Tomorrow, the album, like Enjoy the Show, Reflections, Laughing, etc. made when you realize, oh, okay, now this is going to become an album?
00:50Yeah.
00:50So there are certain songs that we needed completed for the film, obviously.
00:54That performance, Drive was actually, it wasn't complete, but the idea was there.
01:01But we always wanted a performance song.
01:04Like, it was like, what's a concert song that we can open the film with?
01:08And in the vein of a pop record, a live performance, and Wake Me Up was kind of the inspiration.
01:16Some of the stuff that Justice was doing, we always wanted that to kind of hit in that type of way.
01:19So there are certain songs.
01:21And then, of course, the title song, that idea, you know, I was really inspired by Robert Altman, The Long Goodbye, where there's this one song that you hear it throughout the entire film.
01:39It's different iterations of it, when you hear it on the radio, you hear like a pop version of it, and, you know, subjectively in the score, you know, diegetically, like a mariachi band will sing it every time he's like, when he goes to Mexico.
01:52And I kind of wanted to do that with Hurry Up Tomorrow, where, you know, you hear, you know, pieces of this song throughout the film.
02:00It's essentially, you're seeing the making of it, not literally me making it, but like the themes and the concept and the melody and the soul of it is being made throughout the film.
02:11And you hear it, the DNA, you hear it in the score, but eventually, by the end of it, it's fully blossomed into this song, which essentially is what the film is saying.
02:27And funny enough, I actually had to finish the lyrics to that the night before I had to perform it at the end.
02:34So, yes, this music is very much a big part of the film.
02:39It came after, but it is like a sister piece.
02:41They don't exist without each other.
02:44Yeah, totally.
02:45And I think fans would be, like, interested to see that not only do you hear songs from Hurry Up Tomorrow, but you hear two more songs from your older catalog, Blinding Lights and Celine.
02:57What was the significance of including that in the film?
03:01I think just, you know, getting to the, you know, the meat and potatoes of what these songs are saying,
03:08what my past catalog is saying, you know.
03:11Like, what I am doing by the end of the film is I'm, you know, lighting my persona up on fire, you know.
03:17Luckily, I get to do it on 35mm.
03:18But to tap into that, you need to kind of go into the back catalog a little bit and take in what I'm saying in some of these lyrics and how they're kind of masked by pop elements, you know.
03:33It's like one of those, it's always been that joke with the weekend music where it's like, oh, it makes you, like, you know, sing and dance.
03:40And it feels jolly.
03:41And then when you actually get into the themes of it, it's something much more deeper.
03:47And maybe a call for help.
03:49Who knows?
03:49That's how she's, you know, how she's reading it.
03:54And essentially just forcing myself to face myself.
03:58Essentially, that's what she's doing.
04:00So, yeah, I think that's, did I answer your question?
04:03I don't know if I answered your question.
04:04And then my last question, I know that you and Mike Dean obviously scored The Idol together.
04:11And then you scored Hurry Up Tomorrow the Film with Daniel O'Patton.
04:15What were the similarities and differences between those two experiences?
04:19Well, look, Mike, I, Mike's my brother, my OG.
04:23So everything I do, he's a part of.
04:24So he was still a part of the process.
04:27While Dan was scoring it, Mike was still very much there.
04:30I mean, Dan and I really look up to Mike.
04:34And always want his advice.
04:36And, you know, have him do his passes and just help elevate whatever we're doing.
04:42But the process was, I mean, it was great.
04:44I mean, these are, I mean, I've known OPN for years.
04:46I've known him since, you know, before Uncut Gems.
04:49I think during Good Time I met him.
04:52I was introduced to him by Josh and Benny Safdie.
04:55And ever since we met, we were inseparable.
04:58Our career trajectory is kind of the same in the sense where, you know,
05:01I was kind of like an underground king in my realm
05:03and he was underground king in his realm around the same time.
05:06And we kind of blossomed in our own way.
05:08And we really bonded over that and bonded over just kind of, you know,
05:12our ambitions just kind of changed what music sounds like at the time.
05:15And this is no different.
05:18I think we really wanted to do something new.
05:21We wanted to do something we've never seen on screen or heard on screen before.
05:28And, you know, Johnny Byrne was saying that this is the sound designer,
05:34incredible, talented.
05:35He worked on Trey's film Waves and Zone of Interest.
05:38He said it's, I think, the biggest, like, stem session he's ever worked on.
05:43Like, it was a real juggernaut of a score.
05:51And I, but I trust the people involved.
05:53I trust Trey.
05:54I trust Dan.
05:55I trust Johnny and Mike.
05:57And we're able to do these big swings.
06:00And I think they landed well in the film.
06:03I'm really proud of the music and I'm proud of the sonics of it.
06:06And it's much different from the album.
06:08It's like its own experience.
06:11For sure.
06:11Very beautifully blended.
06:12But also just kind of, like you said, like sister pieces where you can appreciate one
