The Weeknd is one of the great serial contributors of this era, and he’s been generous with his praise for the artists he’s worked with, ranging from Ariana Grande and Lana Del Rey to Travis Scott and SZA. But when asked about Daft Punk – who announced on Monday that they were breaking up and who he collaborated with in 2016 on two songs for his ‘Starboy’ album – during interviews for his Variety last year’s cover story, his voice got tones of awe.
“Oh my God – that’s different,” he said. “Those guys are one of the reasons I make music, so I can’t even compare them with other people. Their branding and how seriously they take their craft and image and everything – they’re almost not even real, ” he laughed, understanding the irony of that statement in light of the duo’s long-running conceit about being robots. “But seriously, they are very strategic, they are very smart, and they don’t get attached to anything they think is wrong.”
The pioneering electronic music duo – Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo – met as teenagers in Paris and founded Daft Punk in 1993. Deliberately puzzling, the duo has been a pioneer of dance music since the mid-1990s. notably through their debut album ‘Homework’, their exciting 2006-7 tour (immortalized on the album ‘Alive 2007’) and their 2013 album ‘Random Access Memories’, from which the hit single ‘Get Lucky’ (No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100) and won the Grammy for Album of the Year in 2014.
“Working with Daft Punk was like, ‘Whatever you want!’”, The Weeknd recalled with a laugh. “I just wanted to go into the studio with them – I didn’t even care if we were making music, I just wanted to be friends. I first met Guy-Man at a party in LA, and I actually partied with him more than I did. He would tell me how much he loved my job with loud music with the drinks. “
“And we went into the studio in Paris and did both songs – ‘Starboy’ and ‘I Feel It Coming’ – in the space of four days. ‘Starboy’ was their first US No. 1 song and ‘I Feel It Coming’ is certainly one of my favorites. It’s one of those songs that says I can’t believe I made this, it is warm
The public agreed: “Starboy” reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and “I Feel It Coming” hit No. 2.