“Hurry Up Tomorrow” Is Here

Emily Brill

Arts and Entertainment Editor

To complete his last trilogy as “The Weeknd”, Abel Tesfaye has released “Hurry Up Tomorrow” which premiered on Jan. 31. This album is Tesfaye’s sixth studio album, closing out the connecting trilogy of “After Hours” and “Dawn FM”. In a picture on his Instagram Tesfaye confirmed this album as a part of the trilogy by saying “This Story Has Three Chapters – The Greatest Trilogy Known to Man” which only excited fans even more.

The Canadian born R&B artist turned pop star released this album with XO and Republic Records and was recorded between 2022-2024. Tesfaye recorded a large chunk of the album while he was in Stockholm, Sweden.

Tesfaye faced a lot of backlash while in the process of recording, writing, and completing this album because of his hectic schedule during 2023. During this time, he was finishing the final leg of his world tour, starring in an MAX series called “The Idol” all while teasing this new album. Fans became agitated with Tesfaye as he was talking about the album, but nothing was being released in connection to the album.

The scheduling conflicts with the show, touring, and making this album opened the gateway for Tesfaye to drop his stage name, “The Weeknd” by saying in a statement: “The [upcoming] album is probably my last hurrah as the Weeknd. This is something that I have to do. As the Weeknd, I’ve said everything I can say. I’ll still make music, maybe as Abel, maybe as the Weeknd. But I still want to kill the Weeknd. And I will. Eventually. I’m definitely trying to shed that skin and be reborn” in an interview with his co-star, Lily-Rose Depp.

This album makes a connection back to the first album of this trilogy “After Hours”. Fans can clearly make the connection that the opening track “Wake Me Up” starts with the same chords, just tweaked in a way, as the title track “After Hours”. “Wake Me Up” also features a sample of the iconic Michael Jackson song “Thriller”.

Notable producers of the album include: Tesfaye himself, Pharrell Williams, Travis Scott, Mike Dean, and Metro Boomin, along with many others.

This album features a collection of well-known names in the music industry as well as developing producers and artists. Some names listeners might recognize are Travis Scott, Florence + The Machine, Future, Playboi Carti, and Lana Del Ray.

Tesfaye even made an appearance at this year’s Grammys, an awards ceremony Tesfaye has famously boycotted, to perform two of the songs from the album, “Cry for Me” and “Timeless ft. Playboi Carti”. You can watch the performance on platforms like Youtube or TikTok.