12/28/2022 0 Comments I feel it coming the weeknd meaThe TikTok meme helped vault “Blinding Lights” to chart-topping status - and once there, it stayed and stayed. TikTok helped The Weeknd’s 2019 single “Blinding Lights” become a cultural juggernaut - and the pandemic did the did this in one take ♬ Blinding Lights - MACDADDYZ So how did The Weeknd, of all artists, wind up nabbing the much-coveted Super Bowl gig, which will be watched by as many as 100 million people when he takes the stage Sunday in Tampa? In a nutshell: because of the internet - and because of one record-breaking hit song that’s arguably become a vital soundtrack for the Covid-19 pandemic. The Weeknd’s oeuvre is not exactly primetime family fare. “He uses all of these metaphors to intentionally obscure the terrible realities of life,” Charlie Harding, host of the Switched on Pop podcast, told Vox in an interview. In the concept that accompanies his most recent album, 2020’s After Hours, he’s rocking bandages, bruises, and what might be described as a “bender aesthetic.” Neither does The Weeknd’s current, highly perfected public persona, an alter ego version of himself that seems to visualize and externalize the troubled cycle of thrill-seeking, addiction, rehab, and relapse that he has said he struggled with for years. That doesn’t make for much of a family-friendly, Super Bowl-ready image. The Weeknd (real name Abel Tesfaye) has long been known for nihilistic, drug-fueled, orgiastic pop hits like 2015’s “ The Hills” (“When I’m fucked up, that’s the real me”) and “ Can’t Feel My Face” (“I know she’ll be the death of me, at least we’ll both be numb”). He’s one of the most popular performers of the modern era, but The Weeknd probably isn’t the first person you think of when you envision the ideal Super Bowl halftime performer.
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