This article or section is undergoing significant expansion or restructuring. You are welcome to assist in its construction by editing it as well. If this article or section has not been edited in several days, please remove this template. If you are actively editing this article or section, you can replace this template with {{in use|5 minutes}}.This article was last edited by AskeeaeWiki(talk | contribs) 3 hours ago. (Updatetimer)
House of Balloons is the debut mixtape by the Canadian singer-songwriter Abel Tesfaye, under his stage name the Weeknd. It was self-released free-of-charge on March 21, 2011, through his own record label XO. The writing and production of the mixtape was primarily handled by the Weeknd, Doc McKinney, and Illangelo, alongside additional contributions from Cirkut, Jeremy Rose and Rainer. Its title was derived from the nickname the singer gave to his former home, and the mixtape's themes are inspired by the Weeknd's experiences in Toronto.
The mixtape received widespread acclaim, with critics praising its dark aesthetic, production, and lyrical content. It is widely regarded as a major influence on contemporary R&B music, being credited for pioneering alternative R&B. Musically, House of Balloons mixes R&B with elements of rock, electro, and hip-hop. Lyrically, the mixtape explores the Weeknd's drug use and experiences with love, heartbreak, and promiscuity.
House of Balloons was commercially released as part of the compilation album Trilogy (2012) and included the singles "Wicked Games" and "Twenty Eight", the latter of which is a bonus track. On its tenth anniversary, the original mixtape was released in digital formats, and included samples which failed to gain copyright clearance on Trilogy. The reissue was accompanied by a limited edition line of merchandise designed by architect Daniel Arsham.
Background and development
At the age of seventeen, Abel Tesfaye dropped out of school and left his home, relocating to an apartment with two friends in Toronto.[2] As he left his family home during a weekend, he adopted the stage name 'the Weekend', later removing the second 'e' in 'Weekend' to avoid trademarking issues with Canadian band the Weekend, ending up with "the Weeknd'.[3] Before using this stage name, the Weeknd released music through YouTube in 2009,[4] working under the stage name 'Kin Kane' as part of a hip-hop duo called 'Bulleez n Nerdz'.[5] During this time, he was also a part of a songwriting and production team called 'the Noise', writing demos intended for artists such as Drake,[6]Justin Timberlake, and Chris Brown.[5]
In 2010, the Weeknd met producer Jeremy Rose through mutual friends in Toronto. After the Weeknd freestyled over numerous of Rose's instrumentals, including the one for "What You Need", Rose asked him if he wanted to work together as a "dark R&B project".[7] Their sessions led to the conception of the first part of "The Party & the After Party", "Loft Music", and an early version of "The Morning".[7] Rose left the project due to creative differences, but allowed the Weeknd to use the songs they produced together,[8] under the condition that he would receive production credits.[9]
In December, the Weeknd met producer Illangelo through multiple studio sessions; their collaborations led to the creation of an early version of "Glass Table Girls" and songs that later appeared on the Weeknd's second mixtape, Thursday (2011).[10] The Weeknd met producer Cirkut through a mutual friend, and the two created "High for This" in Cirkut's home studio in one day.[11] Cirkut later introduced him to Doc McKinney in January 2011. McKinney played the Weeknd multiple instrumentals, including the mixtape's title track, initially made sometime in 2009.[11] The Weeknd's desire to rap led to McKinney improvising another beat within the title track, which became a reworked version of "Glass Table Girls".[12] McKinney and the Weeknd began further work that same month, with Illangelo joining them later on. As production progressed, the trio decided to release the mixtape free of charge, Illangelo recalling that it was in a rebellious manner.[10] In a 2013 interview with Complex, the Weeknd revealed that House of Balloons was not mixed or mastered, attributing the decision to the fact that he viewed it as a mixtape, not an album. He further added that he initially planned for 14 tracks to be present on the mixtape, but that he lent some tracks to the Canadian rapper Drake for his own album, Take Care (2011).[13]
House of Balloons is categorized as an alternative R&B record,[1] with its tracks incorporating elements of different genres such as dream pop, electro, rock, and pop.[14][15][16] Being a symbolization of his experiences in Toronto,[13]House of Balloons explores but does not romanticize the loneliness of partying in the night,[17] its songs detailing late-night sexual and drug escapades,[18] and the aftermath of partying.[16]
The mixtape opens with an "eerie, ominous" ringing sound in "High for This" a darkwave and bedroom R&B song. Initially starting off with whispered, soft vocals and an echoing instrumental, the song's sound soon takes a darker tone, adding a commanding bass synth and a more aggressive beat. Its lyrics see the Weeknd attempting to coach his partner through a sex act.[18][19][20][21] "What You Need" is an R&B track featuring a minimalistic beat with a basic minor synth chord progression, vocals described by Pitchfork's Larry Fitzmaurice as "butter-dripping", and a sample of Aaliyah's 2001 single, "Rock the Boat". Throughout the track, the Weeknd challenges a partner's current relationship with suggestive language, repeatedly telling her "He's what you want / I'm what you need".[22][23][24]
The mixtape's third track, "House of Balloons / Glass Table Girls" includes two separate songs combined into a single track. Its first part, "House of Balloons", is an R&B song structured upon a sample of Siouxsie and the Banshees' 1980 single, "Happy House". With a rattling bass line, sharp synths and falsetto vocals, the lyrics see the Weeknd attempting to convince someone that his party is stable, dubbing it a "happy house."[25][26][27] Three and a half minutes in, the track transitions into its second part, "Glass Table Girls". Described to be thematically darker than the first part, it features a numbed rap with a low-end churn, a pulsating synth, and brute percussion that shows a negative side to partying, lyrically discussing use of drugs and sex.[28][27][16][24] "The Morning", a song with a large and rich production supported by synths, guitar riffs, a distorted bass, and crooned vocals, describes the aftermath of a party, with the Weeknd acknolwedging a woman he hooked up with would be gone by the morning.[29][30][31]
"Wicked Games", the debut major-label single for the Weeknd, is a soul ballad with a percussive backbeat. The singer dramatically delivers lyrics about aching for love, even if the feelings are not mutual.[32][33][14]
Promotion
Title and artwork
The house that became the namesake for House of Balloons, located at 65 Spencer Avenue.
The mixtape's title originates from a house the Weeknd and his friends used to live at in Parkdale, Toronto. He explained that he and his friends would throw parties, and added balloons for a more celebratory feel.[5] Its cover art depicts a woman with her face obscured by balloons, and her left breast exposed.[34] The Weeknd asked his friend La Mar Taylor for a cover photo, since the mixtape was ready for release. Taylor shot the cover at his house with his ex-girlfriend.[35]
Release and marketing
House of Balloons was released free of charge via a zip folder on March 21, 2011.[11] After signing with Republic Records in September 2012, the Weeknd worked to clear all samples present in the mixtape, to re-release it as part of Trilogy (2012), a compilation album comprising House of Balloons and two other mixtapes he released in 2011. The use of Aaliyah's "Rock the Boat" on "What You Need" was excluded from Trilogy.[23] Alongside the release of Trilogy, a new song, "Twenty Eight", was included as a bonus track for the House of Balloons disc.[36] The mixtape's remastered version was later released as an LP record on August 14, 2015, which included "Twenty Eight".[37]
House of Balloons was preceded by three promotional singles, "What You Need", "The Morning", and "Loft Music", all released in December 2010.[38] In May 2011, "High for This" was used in promotional material for the HBO original series Entourage.[39] After multiple unofficial music videos, the Weeknd released his first official music video on November 24, for "The Knowing", directed by Mikael Columbu.[40] The mixtape's first single, "Wicked Games", was serviced to rhythmic contemporary radio on September 25, 2012.[41] It became the Weeknd's first single to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 53.[42] Its self-directed music video was released on October 18, 2012.[43] "Twenty Eight", a bonus track for House of Balloons present on Trilogy, was released as the second single for both projects on November 13.[44]
To commemorate its ten-year anniversary, the Weeknd released House of Balloons to streaming services with all original samples present on March 21, 2021.[45] Alongside the release, the architect Daniel Arsham created special artwork for a limited-edition LP record, and merchandise for the mixtape.[46]
House of Balloons received widespread critical acclaim. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, House of Balloons received a weighted average score of 87 based on 16 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[48] Sean Fennessey of The Village Voice was impressed by the mixtape, calling it "patient, often gorgeous, and consistently louche... with the sort of blown-out underbelly and echo-laden crooning that has already made Drake's less-than-a-year-old Thank Me Later such an influential guidepost."[54] Sputnikmusic's Tyler Fisher said that "despite being a free album, House of Balloons feels like a true album, a true labor of love."[24] Tom Ewing of The Guardian felt that while the Weeknd's vocals and lyrics on House of Balloons "aren't especially strong by R&B standards," much of the album's attention was attracted by its strong command of mood.[55]
In December 2011, Metacritic determined that House of Balloons was the third best-reviewed project of the year.[56] AnyDecentMusic? ranked it at number 10 on its list of compilation of the rankings of the best 2011 albums from 30 magazines, newspapers and websites.[57] Additionally, the mixtape was featured on several music critics' and publications' end-of-year albums lists. Complex called it the "best album of 2011;"[58]Stereogum ranked it number 5;[59]The Guardian ranked it number 8;[60]The A.V. Club ranked it number 6;[61]SPIN ranked it (as well as Thursday) number 13;[62] while Pitchfork ranked it number 10.[63] As a whole, House of Balloons was the seventh most frequently mentioned album in music publications' year-end top ten lists.[64] The mixtape was named as one of the longlisted of nominees for the 2011's Polaris Music Prize.[65] The mixtape's title track was placed on Pitchfork's list of top 100 songs of 2011 at number 57, while "The Morning" was number 15.[30] In 2021, the title track was listed at No. 488 on Rolling Stone's "Top 500 Best Songs of All Time".[25]
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
