[quote]By Brianna Powell
Editorial Editor
Photo courtesy of Red Bull[/quote]

When Abel Tesfaye dropped out of high school, left for the weekend, and never came back, the mystery also known as The Weeknd was born. Since 2010, Tesfaye has been silently dropping mixtape after mixtape for fans in the pits of the Internet, virtually invisible to the radar of mainstream radio. Back then, his sound was a sultry, self loathing, and self absorbed, often swimming in the dark, dearly departed end of R&B.

That was five years ago. Now Tesfaye is on a new mission: shedding that position as a cloaked pioneer in alternative R&B and bringing pop music back to the masses. Supported by Ariana Grande duet, “Love Me Harder”, and proving his pipes with solo hits like “Earned It” and “Can’t Feel My Face”, Tesfaye now finds himself leaving the mysteriously smokey curtain of the Internet and heading right into mainstream stardom.

His sophomore full studio album release, “Beauty Behind the Madness” only takes him further. The album opens with “Real Life”, where Tesfaye sings about separating reality from fantasy, smuggled in the rumble of electric guitar and horror movie worthy screams. Lyrically, he’s a contradiction. His angelic tenor crooning while singing hallucinating odes to drugs and lost love affairs makes a sweet and spicy combo that’s irresistible. Vocally, he’s never sounded better: smooth, sweet, and silky. Other standout songs from the album find themselves in Kanye West produced, “Tell Your Friends” and Meatloaf-esque arena ballad, “Angel”.

This album does come with its faults. In an attempt to bring pop to the masses, he’s given himself the daunting task to create a pop masterpiece on the level of a “Thriller” or a “Purple Rain”. A masterpiece, it’s not. Where many things about Tesfaye soar high, (including his iconic hairstyle), it’s the second half of the album that falls flat. His features with Ed Sheeran and Lana Del Rey, (“Dark Times” and “Prisoner, respectively) promise high but, in reality, leave more desired. Drowned in synthesizers, thundering bass, and soaring electric guitar, the trippy production has leans messy and cluttered. By the end of the album, it’s a chore to keeping wiping my eyes from the smoke that Tesfaye is so used to hiding in.

Nonetheless, “Beauty Behind the Madness” is Tesfaye’s coming out party. No longer is he “the guy with the hair that sings that ‘50 Shades of Grey’ song”. This album has cleared that some of that mysterious murk and has solidified him as a force to be reckoned within the pop genre. Give him a few more years of honing in on his incredible talents and ladies and gentlemen, we may have a new Prince of Pop on our hands.