The Weeknd Reveals The 5 Songs That Defined His Career

During an interview with Esquire, The Weeknd spoke about which songs he has released helped define his career. Did your favorite song make the list?

The first song he mentioned comes from his debut mixtape "House of Balloons" and is titled "What You Need." It is a song he stresses may not be what you want, but what you need - a song that is basically a narcoleptic dream. The track was released in 2011. When asked about the meaning of the song and why he chose it as such an essential song in his career, The Weeknd revealed there was no real meaning - it's just a sexy R&B song he loves.

The next song he chose is his 2014 duet with Ariana Grande, "Love Me Harder." The song is a duet that both talk about, well, intense intercourse. The song received critical claim upon its debut, with many praising The Weeknd. Many noted that though he is much less vulgar in this song than in his own releases, it is still just as sultry. Many praised the two for being a perfect pair, with numerous music critics loving the dark, sensual, slow duet the two released. Despite many saying the two made an unlikely pairing, they successfully and beautifully pulled of this seductive synth-pop track.

The third song The Weeknd selected is "Often," a track from his second album "Beauty Behind the Madness," which was released in 2015. He chose "Often" because of the difference it had with other music. He was studying, finding ways to share the complicated feelings around loose hook-ups and various synonyms concerning how a woman's anatomy responds to his sex appeal, and how to put into his music and make it a hit. This song shows that his studying paid off - it was the song that helped kickstart his career and got him and more of his songs on to mainstream radio.

The fourth song he selected is his song "Earned It," which was part of the "Fifty Shades of Grey" soundtrack, also released in 2015. Like the movie, "Earned It" talks about BDSM. The song praised upon its release, even peaking at number three on the Billboard Hot 100. It is the first song from the singer to rank within the top 5 of the charts. It was so well-loved that it was even nominated for "Best Original Song" at the 88th Academy Awards and won the Grammy Award for "Best R&B Performance" at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards. Rolling Stones ranked the song at number 39 in its "50 Best Songs of 2015" list, along with The Weeknd's other songs "The Hills" and "Can't Feel My Face."

The last song he selected is his 2016 release "Starboy." The song speaks about the extravagant lifestyle The Weeknd was experiencing at the time. The lyrics were known for being raw and did not hold back, similar to a previous release called "The Hills". His voice for the song was praised and signaled the start of his trademark voice quality. When the song came out, media outlets claimed he was going through a "Michael Jackson phase," to which The Weeknd disagreed with. He claimed that the comment did not feel genuine and that they were setting him up to fail. "I wanted to transcend," he said. "I wanted the music to transcend."

Did your favorite The Weeknd song make it on the list?

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