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The Weeknd · S3 E4
D.D.
Abel covers Michael Jackson's 'Dirty Diana' and announces exactly where he sees himself in pop history
A 21-year-old high school dropout from Scarborough opens his third free mixtape with a Michael Jackson cover. It is the most audacious three minutes of his career so far, and it tells the entire industry exactly where he thinks he belongs.
Michael Jackson -- Dirty Diana (1988). A number-one hit from the Bad album, performed during the most successful concert tour in history at that point. When Abel chose this song to open Echoes of Silence, he was not picking a deep cut. He was reaching for the crown: the biggest pop star who ever lived, reinterpreted through the lens of a kid who had been uploading music anonymously nine months earlier.
Dirty Diana -- Michael Jackson (1988)
A hard rock-tinged pop track about a groupie who will not let go, driven by Steve Stevens' aggressive guitar riff and one of MJ's most intense vocal performances. The song went to number one on the Billboard Hot 100, the fifth consecutive number-one single from Bad. Listen for how the production builds tension: the guitar and drums escalate while Michael's voice gets more desperate. Now listen to what Abel did with it on "D.D." He stripped away the rock bombast, slowed the tempo to a crawl, and turned the desperation inward.
“He's everything to me, so you're going to hear it in my music.”
— Abel Tesfaye, on Michael Jackson, LA Times
TAP TO REVEAL: Why did Abel rename "Dirty Diana" to "D.D."?
Which Michael Jackson album does "Dirty Diana" originally appear on?
Outside -- The Weeknd
"Outside" sits two tracks after "D.D." on Echoes of Silence and captures the emotional aftermath of the cover's ambition. Over sparse, aching production, Abel sings about standing on the edge of something, not quite inside, not willing to leave. If "D.D." is Abel announcing he belongs in the same conversation as Michael Jackson, "Outside" is the honest admission that he is not there yet.
Abel has covered Michael Jackson, completed three free mixtapes, and built a global audience without spending a dollar on marketing. Now the phone is ringing, and Republic Records wants to talk.
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