The Weeknd is self aware that he feels the need to be validated by this woman and wants her attention and approval (perhaps from what he lacked from his relationship with his parents). This can also be seen as The Weeknd realizing how he must keep up with his fans approval to keep and maintain his fame.

Here we see The Weeknd sharing psychedelics with a woman again, getting ready to unpack his emotions (which are probably heightened because of the mushrooms).

This track in particular can be seen as an expression of The Weeknds childhood trauma being exemplified in his romantic relationships as he's posing the question "How Do I Make You Love Me?". This track can also be seen as a question being posed to his fans as over the years the sound of his music has changed as for some "...time it felt as though Tesfaye was minding the direction of the charts, attaching his name to a sound that was a surefire path to a smash hit. A few album cycles later, his knack for melodies has grown to match the breadth of his ideas about new territories to explore. The new music luxuriates in the joy the Weeknd gets in throwing his loyal listeners for a loop." (Jenkins, 2022).

Here we see The Weeknd spiraling in his mind and is apathetic to himself and to life. He feels as though he is continuing to make the same mistakes and is facing this darker side of himself "...The human soul, because of its karmic baggage, is a place of ambiguity. It is a place where sinner and saint, the sacred and the profane, the divine and the diabolical coexist in seed form. When we get in touch with this part of ourselves and accept it for what it is, we simultaneously lose the need to judge others. Christ said, "He who is without sin shall cast the first stone." I believe what he was saying was that self-acceptance makes us compassionate, forgiving and nonjudgmental of others. This is the first stage of liberation." (Phipps, 2000)

This frames the beginning journey into The Weeknds "ego-death" as he is high on what we can assume to be psychedelics and is confessing to this women that he is losing who he thought he was and is trying to keep his faith in re-learning who he is again. As Deepak Chopra put it "...When people get in touch with themselves, they become aware that the inner core of their being contains opposing energies." (Phipps, 2000). This woman is someone he trust to watch over him as he journeys through himself.

Jim Carrey plays the role of a "narrator/ the Weeknds subconscious mind" through purgatory as the weekend begins to examine himself as a whole and comes out of the experience "re-born". This can also be seen as a spiritual journey through the lens of "ego-death" as it is defined as "..a phenomenon commonly linked with the use of psychedelics. It's described by people who have experienced it as a feeling of losing one's self. It is termed so because it has been reported as feeling like a form of dying in which one lets go of their sense of self and identity." (Ohwovoriole, 2023)

"Tesfaye explained that his initial attempts at writing a follow-up to After Hours were troubled by depression, which spilled over into the music. “It was too dark and sad, it wasn’t cathartic at all,” he explained. “So I put that album down and created something more fantasy, more of an escape.”(Morelan, 2022)

Abel Makkonen Tesfaye, also known by his stage name The Weeknd, is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and record producer. He was born on February 16, 1990, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, to Ethiopian immigrant parents. He first gained popularity in 2010 with his mixtapes, which were later released as the album "Trilogy" in 2012.

The Weeknd has since released several successful albums, including "Beauty Behind the Madness" (2015), "Starboy" (2016), "My Dear Melancholy" (2018), and "After Hours" (2020), which includes hit songs such as "Blinding Lights" and "Save Your Tears". He has won numerous awards throughout his career, including three Grammy Awards, eight Billboard Music Awards, and two American Music Awards.

The Weeknd's latest album is titled "Dawn FM" and was released on January 7, 2022. The album consists of 16 tracks and has a runtime of approximately 50 minutes.

"Dawn FM" is a concept album that takes listeners on a journey through a fictional radio station, featuring guest appearances from various artists such as Jim Carrey, Quincy Jones, and Tyler, The Creator. " Instead of leaning on lurid stories about lives in disrepair, he dreamed up a new concept about leaving that darkness behind. “Picture the album being like the listener is dead,” Tesfaye told Billboard last fall. “And they’re stuck in this purgatory state, which I always imagined would be like being stuck in traffic waiting to reach the light at the end of the tunnel.” (Jenkins, 2022). With Tesfaye's description of how to experience the album, there are easy comparisons to "Ego-death" which I will dive into with the intro song on the album. Overall, the album explores themes of love, loss, and nostalgia, with The Weeknd's signature blend of R&B, pop, and electronic music.