This past Friday, Toronto star The Weeknd became the 23rd artist to have a song earn a Diamond certification from the RIAA, after the single passed the 10 million units mark.
The Illangelo and Mano-produced hit single was originally released on May 27, 2015 and served as the second single to Abel’s second studio album, Beauty Behind the Madness. It was co-written by Belly.
The song peaked at number one here in Canada, and also reached number one in the US on the Billboard Hot 100 (his second number one), displacing his own single “Can’t Feel My Face” in the process. The Grant Singer-directed video was been viewed over 1.3 billion times since its release in May 2015. The Weeknd now has over 15 million subscribers on YouTube.
“The Hills” reigned for six weeks at number, and received remix treatment from Eminem and Nicki Minaj.
You can find the song and the Beauty Behind the Madness album on Spotify, and other digital streaming services.
In other Weeknd news, the young star deactivated his Instagram account on Wednesday (June 5), which prompted rumours that he’d be releasing his new album the next day.
“Naturally, fans posted ’06/06′ to signify Chapter 6, which is thought to be the title of his new album. But alas, no album has popped up, just yet. Nevertheless, some fans think that Abel will drop something new very soon.” – XXL
And while people anticipate the new release at any minute, there hasn’t been a lot of new music to hold over fans in the time being. One of the last releases he appeared on—”Lost in the Fire” by French producer Gesaffelstein—had people speculating that Abel threw a subliminal diss at Drake and his son.
The line is in question is: “And I just want a baby with the right one/Cause I would never be the one to hide one.”
He also appeared on the Game of Thrones soundtrack, For the Throne (Music inspired by the HBO Series Game of Thrones) on “Power is Power” (with SZA and Travis Scott), and on NAV’s latest album, Bad Habits.
