The Weeknd Says He Was Scheduled To Record With Prince Before His Death

The Weeknd's highly anticipated Starboy album is less than a month away, and the Canadian pop star recently down for an interview with Wall Street Journal Magazine to discuss the upcoming project, his work with Daft Punk, and the refugee crisis.

The Weeknd's first single from Starboy was the Daft Punk-assisted title track from the album, and he opened up about the collaboration process. “Their studio is like a spaceship, there’s a lot of gear,” he told WSJ. “The way they make music, the way they explain it, is very cinematic. It’s like they’re reading a page out of a novel—‘We want to make sure that at the end, it feels like the sun’s coming up, and maybe there’s a car chase.’ They can get technical, but it was interesting how they visualize making music.”

The Toronto singer mentioned that he was supposed to visit Paisley Park to record with his longtime idol Prince before the icon's death in April. As the article notes, Prince's last television appearance was to present The Weeknd with his American Music Award last November.

The Weeeknd also addressed the tumultuous political climate and the ongoing refugee crisis. "What is happening is very real,” he said. “We’re at a time when you can’t hide it. It’s being shown on cellphones, shown to people’s faces, and they still try to ignore it. I don’t think we should be waiting for a presidential election to change things—we need to change now."

Read The Weeknd's WSJ cover story here.