On Friday, Torontonian came through with an ambitious, lush, and dark effort.  from , , DaHeala, and more, the album provided fans with enough material to lose themselves in for days on end. And with the ongoing state of self-quarantine that so many have currently been experiencing, what better way to pass the time than to listen to Abel’s melancholic musings? 

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Clearly, a staggering amount of fans arose to the same conclusions. Amidst reports that streaming numbers are risking a decline following the coronavirus pandemic, The Weeknd slid through and declared not on my watch. Taking to Instagram, the Canadian artist let fly a boast few artists could dare match, even if they wanted to: One billion Spotify streams in a little over his namesake. 

Given that early projections point to a total of more than 400,000  it’s admittedly difficult to keep track of the modern-day sales metric. Yet Weeknd seems confident in his declaration, marveling followers with zero after zero after zero. If that’s not enough to solidify him as a commercial titan to rival anyone in the game, we’re not entirely sure what does. A big shout out goes out to The Weeknd, who proved that one doesn’t need to rely on gimmicks nor trends to find success, but rather trust in their own creative instincts. Are you still bumping After Hours?