rollingstone.com/music/music-features/the-weeknd-after-hours-grammys-interview-1061041
Relevant with this Kanye talk these few days
"As for other ways the industry can better support black artists, Tesfaye has only one piece of advice he stands by. “It’s not about the upfront money,” he says. “Make sure you own your music. That’s your soul, so make sure you own it. That’s all I can really say about that.”
He was smart enough to own his masters from the start, and through his XO label, which he founded in 2010 with his creative director, La Mar Taylor, he has also been able to uplift friends like Nav, Belly, and Black Atlass. If and when he makes his long-dreamed-of movie, that will be an XO project as well."
And Drake was mad he didn’t sign his slave deal.
People will pretend thats not the case but thats effectively what happened.
The way Drake took advantage of being the bigger star to take a lot of his hits for Take Care, made him wiser not to get finessed more and sign with Drake.
Plus since never signed until around EOS release, with his buzz and a bidding war, he had enough leverage to get a good deal unlike most.
Weeknd broke it down in the Complex interview he did years ago if anyone needs source (IIRC).
my goat...
Massive W