The Weeknd is a Grammy Award-winning music artist, famous for 2016’s hit album (and title track), Starboy, and his collaboration with other high-profile artists, including Kanye West and Alicia Keys. However, given his unique sound and mixing of musical genres, people often wonder if The Weeknd is a rapper.

The Weeknd is not a rapper, at least not in the traditional sense. Though he can rap, and does occasionally have hip-hop-inspired tunes, his sound errs on the side of R&B and pop, rather than hardcore rap artists such as Eminen and Dr. Dre.

Read more below about The Weeknd’s rise to fame, his unusual sound, and how his boundary crossing of musical genres has won him legions of fans.

Toronto Roots

The Weeknd was born Abel Makkonen Tesfaye on February 16, 1990. His parents were Ethipoian immigrants who had fled to Canada, where they had Abel and built a life in the Scarborough area of Toronto.

His parents ultimately split, with The Weeknd being raised by his mom and grandmother, and though he rarely saw his father, he did not hold it against him. In an interview with Rolling Stone, he described the relationship with his father, saying, “I saw him vaguely when I was six, and then again when I was 11 or 12, and he had a new family and kids. I don’t even know where he lived – I’d see him for, like, a night. I’m sure he’s a great guy. I never judged him. He wasn’t abusive, he wasn’t an alcoholic, he wasn’t an asshole. He just wasn’t there.”

Though he had an otherwise normal childhood, when he became serious about pursuing music as a career, he dropped out of high school and moved to a different part of the city. It was here that he would meet Jeremy Rose, an R&B producer, whom he worked with early on in his career. 

Musical Meeting

Though The Weeknd and Rose would eventually have a falling out, The Weeknd walked away with several songs that would ultimately appear on his self-released debut, House of Balloons, a mixtape that received rave reviews from critics. The Weeknd had no record contract, he had simply uploaded the mixtape online

After the release, The Weeknd began performing at local clubs in the area. Superstar artist Drake, who had become a fan of The Weeknd’s, attended one of the shows, and the duo began collaborating, with Drake appearing on one of The Weeknd’s songs, and The Weeknd working on Drake’s album, Take Care.