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The Weeknd · S5 E4
Often
The explicit B-side the label wasn't sure about. Abel releases it anyway and proves his instincts right
July 2014. Abel uploads a song called "Often" with an NSFW music video and zero label coordination. Republic Records finds out the same way everyone else does: by scrolling past it on their feed.
The Weeknd, Often (2014). The video matches the song: unapologetically explicit, shot in a strip club, and completely uninterested in making Abel look like the crossover artist Republic was trying to build. This was Abel drawing a line in the sand between the pop pivot and the person he actually is after midnight.
Often, The Weeknd (2014)
Produced by DaHeala and Abel himself, "Often" runs on a deceptively simple loop: a pitched vocal sample, a minimal beat, and Abel's voice doing most of the work. The lyrics are among the most sexually explicit he has ever released, delivered with the detached cool of someone narrating his own habits like a nature documentary. Listen for how the production stays flat and hypnotic. There is no build, no drop, no chorus that explodes. The monotony is the point: this is a routine, not a special occasion.
The B-Side the Label Didn't Want
Republic Records was in the middle of rolling out "Earned It" as a sophisticated crossover moment. Abel releasing a graphic strip-club anthem in the same window was the opposite of their strategy. But Abel treated "Often" as a statement of independence: he could write for Fifty Shades and still be the most explicit artist on the roster. The song eventually peaked at number 59 on the Hot 100 before its inclusion on BBTM gave it a second life.
TAP TO REVEAL: Was "Often" originally meant for Beauty Behind the Madness?
The Statement
"Often" was not an accident or a lapse in strategy. It was Abel telling Republic, the industry, and his new Fifty Shades audience exactly who they had signed up for. If "Earned It" was the handshake, "Often" was the fine print.
The Dual Identity
"Often" is the proof that Abel never intended to choose between pop and darkness. Other artists pivoting toward the mainstream would have buried a song like this, or at least softened the video. Abel did the opposite: he released it early, released it raw, and dared his new audience to follow him there. The ones who stayed became the fanbase that would carry him through the next decade.
Losers ft. Labrinth, The Weeknd
The BBTM deep cut that nobody expected. Abel and Labrinth build an anthem for misfits over a production that sounds more like indie rock than R&B, with live drums, distorted guitars, and a chorus that opens up wider than anything else on the album. Where "Often" is private and explicit, "Losers" is public and defiant.
Losers ft. Labrinth, The Weeknd (2015)
Abel and Labrinth trade verses about being outsiders who made it on their own terms. The lyrics reject every industry playbook and frame commercial failure as a badge of honor. Coming from the guy who just wrote a Fifty Shades ballad, the defiance hits different.
Where does "Often" sit on the BBTM tracklist, and what comes right before it?
Abel has proven he can be pop and explicit on the same album without apologizing for either. But the next track on BBTM was produced by someone Abel never expected to work with: Kanye West walks into the studio, and "Tell Your Friends" becomes the most dangerous song on the record.
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