Toronto Athletes as The Weeknd Albums

 Fun and silly one today! I am going to The Weeknd concert tonight, my favorite artist, and I couldn't be more excited. I thought a fun way to celebrate this would be to compare all of his albums to a Toronto athlete and provide my reasoning for that comparison. This is an imperfect exercise, but I think I'll have a good time with it. The Weeknd has 8 projects that I'll consider for this exercise, one of them being a trilogy of 3 albums but we'll merge them into 1 for brevity's sake. I've realized now that there are no Leafs on this list. Sorry Leafs, I am just not as tapped in to you guys as I am the Raptors and Jays. 

Trilogy (House of Balloons, Thursday, Echoes of Silence) - Jose Bautista

Hear me out on this one! This was the Weeknd's first studio project, and a fan favorite. Like Jose Bautista, fans of the Blue Jays of course know who he is and hold him in very high regard. Fans of The Weeknd obviously know Trilogy and hold it in high regard as well. Across the league though, if you're an Atlanta Braves fan or something, you might have heard of Bautista but he's not necessarily on your radar as a household name. Similar to people who just listen to The Weeknd in passing on the radio, they might have heard of this album but they don't really think much about it. Trilogy has some of the biggest most iconic songs of The Weeknd's discography. House of Balloons (Glass Table Girls), Wicked Games, The Morning, Montreal are all quintessential The Weeknd songs that defined an era. Similar to Bautista's accolades with the Jays. Multiple time home run champ, the bat flip, and countless other regular season and playoff moments, Bautista put the Jays back on the map just like this album did for The Weeknd. 

Favorite Lyric (clean): these silly billy fellows* tryna hold on to they credit so I tell em use a debit watch they image start to lessen - The Morning

*Yes the real lyric doesn't include silly billy fellows, this is a family blog. Ask me in person for my real fav lyric on this album.

Kissland - Josh Donaldson 

I had this one reserved for Donaldson before I even started this exercise. Maybe it doesn't fit in the same way the Jose Bautista one does, this is The Weeknd's lesser known album and Donaldson was an MVP with the Jays. Where I think it fits though is Donaldson was a known asshole with the Jays, and Kissland is probably The Weeknd's biggest asshole album of all. In the title track, The Weeknd goes on about how his life is full of parties, women, drugs and money. He reminds you at the end that this ain't nothing to relate to even if you tried. I think Donaldson had a similar attitude, it's probably what made him a great baseball player, but certainly it's assholeish for both of them. Beyond that, I think it fits in that this is a super underrated album by him with no skips in my opinion. Josh Donaldson in Toronto sports lore is a similarly forgotten figure. Despite his MVP, people tend to remember Bautista, Encarnacion then Donaldson next. It makes sense, those guys had bigger playoff moments and were with the team longer. Similar to how the other albums have bigger hits so they stick with the fans more. 

Favorite Lyric: My doctor told me to stop, he gave me something to pop, so I mixed it up with that Adderall and I wait to get to the top. - Kissland

Beauty Behind the Madness - Pascal Siakam

This wasn't my favorite album, but it's my favorite comp! This album was kind of The Weeknd's first venture into the mainstream of pop. It wasn't as cohesive as any of his other projects with a bunch of different genres and features being jammed into 1 album. Similar to Pascal Siakam who isn't necessarily great at anything but he's really good at a lot of things which is what makes him a great player. The album doesn't have the same front to back listening power that most of The Weeknd's albums do, but there are still songs that I go back to all the time as well as massive mainstream hits like The Hills, Can't Feel My Face, Earned it and Often. Just like how Siakam never made it as a #1 go to scorer, but he still had moves that you could go back to all the time like dumping it into the post or his spin move. This album is The Weeknd's jack of all trades master of none album and that's a bit like how I see Pascal Siakam as a Raptor. 

Favorite Lyric: and I don't drink my liquor with a chase in, the money is the only thing I'm chasing. - Tell Your Friends

Starboy - Scottie Barnes

This is The Weeknd's first and I think only fun loving upbeat album. Most of his work has a little hint of sadness, this one is a pure pop album produced by Daft Punk and I think it fits with Scottie Barnes' personality perfect. When Scottie is on, he's a bubbly energetic goofball. His energy definitely wouldn't match any of the more serious themes of other The Weeknd albums. This was The Weeknd's follow up to Beauty Behind the Madness and was a further push towards popstar territory vs his past as an R&B artist, but this time it was a more cohesive project that flowed a lot better. Similar to how the Raptors were kind of caught between eras after the championship and directionless, until they drafted Scottie Barnes and found a new vision to build around. It also fits that if the Raptors are going to be successful in the near future, it is all going to center around Scottie being a MF Starboy, just like The Weeknd says!

Favorite Lyric: I just won a new award for a kid's show, talkin bout a face humming off a bag of blow. - Reminder

*That lyric is hilarious, he was nominated for a kid's choice award for the song "Can't Feel My Face" which is a song about his face going numb after using cocaine. 

My Dear, Melancholy - Kawhi Leonard

Sad boy hours! This was The Weeknd's shortest project, which is fitting for a Raptor who was only with the team for 1 year. It was also sneakily one of The Weeknd's best projects which is fitting for a Raptor who was the best in franchise history for that 1 year. Where I think this all really fits is centered around Kawhi leaving the team in free agency. The Weeknd says "wake up, I don't wanna wake up, I don't wanna wake up if you're not laying next to me." Tell me, which Raptor fan didn't feel that exact way about Kawhi after they won the title in 2019. Kawhi eventually went on to break everyone's heart and leave for the Los Angeles Clippers in free agency, making the entire city of Toronto feel melancholy. He says "I want you to stay, I want you to stay even though you don't want me." How fitting is that? Yeah this is Kawhi's album no question about it. 

Favorite Lyric: But what's he got that I ain't got cause I got a lot. - Wasted Times

After Hours - Kyle Lowry

While this isn't necessarily my favorite album (it's up there for me I just have weird taste), it's probably his best overall piece of work that he's ever produced. Easy comparison to Kyle who is the greatest Raptor of all time. This album features The Weeknd's most streamed song in Blinding Lights, which I think is a good comparison for Kyle who holds multiple all time Raptors records. It's production quality is top notch with the way songs flow into each other and how the album tells a story better as a whole rather than each song as a standalone thing. Just like how Kyle Lowry isn't the best 1 on 1 basketball player out there, but he's awesome in a team setting making all of his teammates better and orchestrating the offense. Adding to this, the album had a deluxe edition that added 3 absolute bangers including one of my all time favs Nothing Compares. This is just like how after the championship, Kyle followed it up with one of his best seasons ever including the best game he ever played, the 30 point comeback against Dallas. Just like the 3 additional songs, they were not as promoted and easily forgotten, Kyles following season isn't mentioned as much considering he won the title the year before. The album also could also symbolize how Kyle felt after DeMar DeRozan got traded. "Baby, where are you now that I need you most, I'd give it all just to hold you close." Is that too romantic? Nah that's how he felt I know it. 

Favorite Lyric: Nothing compares, to the emptiness we both share, and nobody cares, like you do - Nothing Compares

DawnFM - DeMar DeRozan

This is where we get radical. DawnFM was actually probably my favorite album by him ever, which is weird to say because I think this one is held in the lowest regard by critics and fans alike. That being said, I thought the production quality on this album was amazing. It tells a story better than any other project he's had. While the songs are more pop-like than After Hours, the themes are actually dark and depressing when you dig into it. It's the type of album that takes multiple listens before you get it. Just like how DeMar DeRozan you had to be there to understand what his impact was. DeMar wasn't what modern basketball demands in a player, he didn't shoot 3s and he didn't play defense. Similar to how this album isn't what people came to expect in the Weeknd, there wasn't massive vocal performances and it isn't R&B. What DeMar could do though was get buckets, just like how this album could produce hits that make you feel the way the old The Weeknd songs did without being directly depressing like old The Weeknd. Out of Time is my favorite example of this, it's a song about missing out on the chance with the woman he loves, sung in an upbeat happy tune. It leaves you feeling almost haunted just like his old songs, that sounded haunted did. DeMar could get buckets, just like other NBA stars, but not in the way that you might expect. 

Favorite Lyric: If he mess up just a little, baby you know my line, if you don't trust him a little then come right back girl come right back. - Out of Time 

Hurry Up Tomorrow -  Vladimir Guerrero Jr. 

And finally his most recent project! I am a bit sad to say that this one wasn't my favorite album of his, although I do like a few songs on it, I felt it was a little long with a bunch of forgettable songs. And with that I am being mean with my comparison. This album was applauded by critics everywhere, they called it his best album ever, and I just didn't really get it. Similar to Vlad Guerrero Jr., he's looked at as this big massive superstar worthy of a $500m contract. He's had some great years, just like this album has great songs like Cry For Me, but overall his entire body of work is pretty mid when you really look at it, just like how I view this album. I am being really mean, the thing is my least favorite The Weeknd album is still better to me than a lot of other artists so comparing any athlete to any The Weeknd album should still be seen as a compliment. But yeah, I am sneakily dissing Vladdy with this selection, maybe he'll prove me wrong over the next 14 years. 

Favorite Lyric: Take me back to a place, where the snow would fall on my face, and I miss my city lights, I left too young. - Take me Back to LA 

That's that! This was a good time, obviously it's just silly and subjective if you're reading this and you have other ideas hit me up and let me know I'd love to hear it!