Abel Tesfaye, known artistically as The Weeknd, knows that this February 7th he will find himself before a truly symbolic moment, even much more symbolic than the majority of stars who have acted at the Super Bowl break, the television showcase. most important in the United States.
His performance on Sunday at the Raymond James Stadium in Florida before an audience that exceeds 100 million spectators every year is presented as a vindication of the African-American community after a last year marked by the Black Lives Matter movement and the largest wave of protests Since the murder of Martin Luther King in the death of George Floyd, who was strangled with the knee by a policeman in Minnesota last May.
It matters little that The Weeknd, who donated € 225,000 to Black Lives Matter, was not born on American soil and is a Canadian of Ethiopian parents.
His figure in North American popular music is so immense that, as has happened with other Canadians such as Neil Young, Joni Mitchell or the late Leonard Cohen, he does not understand borders and his work is embedded in the psychology of the first world power as an element catalyst of sensitivities and dilemmas.
In the case of this musician and producer, a
rhythm and blues
revolutionary
of the last decade and an artist accustomed to reaching the top of the charts, some of his albums have been fantastic maps of the latest and greatest black music.
He has delved into a futuristic sound developed with absorbing atmospheres, thanks to a provocative architecture of pop, electronics and R'n'B.
Even with a point as romantic as sadistic as the one achieved in
After Hours, an
album published last year, which contained
Blinding Lights
, the addictive song that has seen a revision with verses in Spanish with the collaboration of Rosalía, to which rumor mill placed in the Super Bowl performance with The Weeknd, but the environment of the Spanish singer has denied.
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With its immersive atmosphere,
After Hours
is his latest sonic pirouette that, as The Weeknd stated in its ad, "sought to heal everyone during these dark times."
His show at America's most momentous sports gala is expected to aspire to the same.
The musician, who already astonished last year with his applauded performances at the galas of the MTV awards and the American Music Awards, is above all a challenge to show his magnetism.
With an unusual packaging, the African-American heartbeat hides in his music, giving rise to reflecting racial tension and the search for moral healing in a country that still carries the consequences of the incendiary speech of former President Donald Trump.
The Super Bowl halftime (known in English as
Halftime Show
) is a unique platform with worldwide reach.
It was already demonstrated last year: the fast-paced performance of Shakira and Jennifer López, true to their origins, was a display of empowerment and reflected the success of Latinos in North American culture just as Trump did not stop charging against feminists and the community latin.
Behind that great show were also rap star Jay-Z and his company Roc Nation, dedicated to promoting sports and entertainment events.
The NFL recruited Jay-Z in 2019 to help create Super Bowl musical performances after many musicians said they would not work with the Football League in solidarity with Colin Kaepernick,
the 49ers
quarterback
who in 2016 stamped his right knee on the ground at the sound of the US anthem in protest against police racism.
A gesture that cost him his NFL career and was universally copied last year in protests over George Floyd's strangulation.
Despite the tensions in the NFL after the
Kaepernick case
, the Super Bowl has always had black artists for its show since its inception in the seventies when tributes were made to Duke Ellington or Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald sang or the multi-instrumentalist Lionel played. Hampton.
Since then, prominent figures such as Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder, Prince, Michael Jackson and Beyoncé have paraded.
With his performance, The Weeknd not only joins a great list of icons, but also translates as the greatest achievement of this reserved and controversial musician, who from a very young age had to make a living selling marijuana and robbing supermarkets to feed himself. He was arrested and sentenced to 50 hours of community service after beating a police officer in Las Vegas. His appearance at the Super Bowl will also serve to make up for his anger with the Grammy organization. Last November he charged harshly against those responsible, whom he called "corrupt", when he saw that
After Hours, a
commercial and critical success album, did not receive any nominations for the awards gala in 2021. His complaint was supported by artists and industry sectors. An anger that will be parked in the Raymond James Stadium in Florida. For 12 minutes, an entire country will be watching this revolutionary of sound, a source of black pride in the 21st century.