The Weeknd Earns His Soulful Stripes

You've been put on notice, fellas. When the lights go down on Valentine's Day for a screening of Fifty Shades of Grey, your special lady's going to have a hard time not being distracted by some juicy R&B emanating from its soundtrack. Want a scapegoat? Go ahead and blame The Weeknd, known to his family as Abel Tesfaye. This Canadian powerhouse hits each note spot on. What's the ace up his sleeve? His shirt ripping prowess guarantees you'll have night, month, year, or decade to remember. Surely, if you're going to go strip down to the bare bones mode you'd need foreplay fixings. "Earned It" goes that extra mile. Not good for the prolonged life of the tire tread but ideal for rolling around in the sack and making gorgeous music of your own. Backing The Weeknd comes an orchestra primed for the kill. How does that boatload of intensity spring to the surface from one lonely little tap on the drums? Call it saying so much with as little exerted energy as possible. Making these proceedings go down even harder there's the orchestra quotient. String section aplenty, an innovation not for the squeamish. Classical music has at times earned its stodgy reputation. Employed here with such a nasty, cold blooded stripe running down its back you appreciate the great lengths it takes to master this genre. On to The Weeknds' voice. Beefcake personified enhanced with the maximum sweat dripping from his brow. His lyrics don'r rise much above a one man admiration society but that's okay. It's awfully hard to find fault. Sincerity in delivery counts for a whole lot and that's what he's selling to the interested masses who'll have him. How could you not see panties and briefs flying everywhere? The Weeknd's foray into moist bedroom gamesmanship earns its stripes because unlike too many dotting the R & B landscape he doesn't shove copious booty in your face expecting you to drop to all fours and howl like you were in heat. What a concept this whole not demeaning women thing. Somebody remembers that despite historical examples pointing to the contrary women are actually people with ten fingers, ten toes, and a fully functioning beating heart, not toys to be played with and then discarded when the moment fades. The hook portion of "Earned It" puts woman on pedestal in bedroom terms. She's perfect, always worth it, and has earned his respect. Weeknd and femme try to negotiate romantic waters high on tumultuous. He claims he knew theirs would be a tragic hookup. Hence we've got two amorous souls anxious to spark flames from a lonely night. Given that they felt a rush, possibly their human brokenness that betrayed them, that the chief problem in the relationship stared back at them in the mirror. The Weeknd turns the pages of this steadily steam enriched story like he was the first one who ever truly knew what love was, or had the presence to tell the tale about it. "Earned It" promises to earn your admiration. But fellas, get the special lady back on your team with the biggest pink heart shaped box of candy you can manage. Then you'll have earned whatever she's got planned for you in the boudoir.