The Weeknd is a Grammy Award-winning music artist, most famous for 2016’s hit album (and title track), Starboy, his collaboration with other high-profile artists, and his unique sound. The Weeknd’s sound is hard to describe, effortlessly crossing genres from R&B to pop music and the synth sounds of the 1980s, which might leave fans wondering if The Weeknd uses Auto-Tune.
The Weeknd does use Auto-Tune, but not for the reason one might think. Most professional singers and music acts use Auto-Tune of comparable software while recording in the studio, and The Weeknd is no different in that regard.
Read more below about The Weeknd’s rise to fame, what Auto-Tune is and why it’s used so frequently in the music industry, and the specific reason that The Weeknd uses the software in his songs.
Tuneful Tyke
The Weeknd was born Abel Makkonen Tesfaye on February 16, 1990. His parents were Ethipoian immigrants who had fled to Canada in the wake of the famine ravaging their country and an unstable political regime.
The family lived in the Scarborough area of Toronto, known for its multicultural population given its distinction of being where many immigrants settled in Canada. The Weeknd grew up immersed in his Ethiopian heritage, even learning to speak the native language, Amharic, and playing traditional African music along with his relatives.
He credits the musical part of his heritage as one of the main reasons his music sounds so distinct in comparison to other modern-day singers, saying, “That’s why I feel like my singing is not conventional. The feeling in my music and in my voice is very Ethiopian and very African and much more powerful than anything, technically.”
Musical Move to the Top
His rise to the top of the music industry started when he dropped out of high school to pursue music full-time. He began working with a local producer, and though the two ultimately parted ways, The Weeknd had enough tracks to release his first mixtape, which he posted online for free.
In a fortuitous turn of events, The Weeknd caught the attention of rap superstar and singer, Drake. Though initially Drake only shared The Weeknd’s music with his fans, the duo began working together a year later after Drake saw The Weeknd perform live in a Toronto nightclub.
From there, The Weeknd’s career picked up steam, with the singer going on to sign a record deal, release four studio albums and collaborate with multiple high profile musical acts,including Drake, Kanye West and pop princess Ariana Grande.
His 2016 hit single “Starboy,” which featured iconic French electronic duo, Daft Punk, topped the charts and made The Weeknd a household name. It is also this song where people question The Weeknd’s use of Auto-Tune in his music.
You can watch The Weeknd sing sans Auto-Tune in the YouTube video below.
Pitch Perfection and a Visionary Voice
Auto-Tune arrived on the music scene in 1997, instantly becoming a mainstay for record producers at major and indie labels alike. Its original function was to mask or correct pitch variations during a singer’s performance, but over the years it has expanded into creating unique and distorted sounds, and producing a distinctive style for the performer.
Over the past two decades, most major musical acts have used Auto-Tune in one capacity or another. The software hit the mainstream airwaves in a noticeable way with legendary icon Cher’s return to music with 1998’s “Believe,” with Pitchfork describing the audio software, writing, “Right from the start, it always felt like a gimmick, something forever on the brink of falling from public favor. But Auto-Tune proved to be the fad that just wouldn’t fade. Its use is now more entrenched than ever. Despite all the premature expectations of its imminent demise, Auto-Tune’s potential as a creative tool turned out to be wider and wilder than anybody could ever have dreamt back when “Believe” topped the charts in 23 countries.”
Auto-Tune features heavily on many of The Weeknd’s songs, giving him an almost otherworldly sound, different from anyone else in the music game, but it’s an intentional choice to create distortion and not because The Weeknd can’t carry a tune. Regardless of whether or not The Weeknd uses Auto-Tune in the future, it’s clear both the artist and the audio software are here to stay.