`` Wicked Games `` By Abel Tesfaye - 1566 Words

In the current era of popular music in America, childhood starlets often experience a shift or change in the genre and lyrical contents of the music they produce once they reach adulthood. While childhood stars such as Miley Cyrus and Britney Spears transformed their images towards more sexually and culturally liberal ones, African American artists, on the other hand, have to contend with toning down their music explicitly to appeal more towards white America. This essay will focus entirely on the Ethiopian artist Abel Tesfaye (also known by his stage-name â€Å"The Weeknd†) and the evolution his music endured as it struggled to appeal more towards white mainstream America. Tesfaye’s departure from his drug/sex ridden references in his previous works in order to dilute his music to appeal to a wider more age friendly audience resulted in the loss of his cultural and social background, as his identity shifted to match his new pop persona. In one of Tesfaye’s earl y songs, titled â€Å"Wicked Games,† he describes a drug and depression filled love story with heavy sexual undertones coupled with emotional scarring. He sings, â€Å"Bring your love, baby, I could bring my shame / Bring the drugs, baby, I could bring my pain / I got my heart right here / I got my scars right here† (The Weeknd 9-10). This song, along with a majority of his early mixtapes, encompasses the struggles he endured as an artist battling drug abuse and emotional trauma. He states in an interview, â€Å"I didn’t have a fatherShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of The Song Wicked Games1697 Words   |  7 Pagesto them not having as many expectations or requirements to be able to join it as women do. Since men are dominating the industry, it is more common to hear about their masculine identity and experiences throughout their songs. I chose the song Wicked Games by The Weeknd, which was released in 2012 through his first album, Trilogy. I thought it would be inte resting to analyze a song that he wrote and produced before he became truly famous. It is common for artists to change the way they portray