Quotes from The Weeknd

It's almost schizophrenic who I portray in my music.

I'm the most boring person to talk to.

Me not finishing school - in my head, I still have this insecurity when I'm talking to someone educated.

I've been singing my whole life. I'd randomly sing in the hallways at high school, and all my friends would be like, 'You should sing on 'Canadian Idol'!" It definitely gassed me!

For my generation, the bomber jacket is like a replacement for the suit jacket. It's a piece that men wear every day, and it's something that I would wear for any occasion, whether it's on the street or going to an awards ceremony.

I sang a lot of low stuff on songs like 'Secrets' and 'Rockin',' almost like Toni Braxton. On 'Secrets,' I'm a different person.

For the chorus of 'Secrets,' we used The Romantics' 'Talking in Your Sleep' and 'Pale Shelter' by Tears for Fears. It's like hip-hop: just grab it.

I'm a huge fan of R. Kelly's. He's a musical genius and probably the most prolific artist of the generation before mine.

'Eastern Promises' is great.

I didn't have a father figure in the house.

I was very camera shy. People like hot girls, so I put my music to hot girls and it just became a trend. The whole 'enigmatic artist' thing, I just ran with it. No one could find pictures of me.

'Thursday' is a conceptual album. Whatever that situation was, I spent the whole album focusing on that situation.

'Trilogy' was more of a claustrophobic body of work. Before it was released, I hadn't left my city for 21 years, and I had never been on a plane, not once. I spent my entire life on one setting; that's probably why pieces of the album feel like one long track, because that's what my life felt like. It felt like one long song.

From when I was born to when I was 21, I never left Toronto. That's why I'm such a city cat.

I'm all about surprises. If you watch a horror movie, and it's called 'Kiss Land,' it's probably going to be the most terrifying thing you've ever seen in your life.

My purpose is to make exciting music, and I feel like I'll be doing that for the rest of my life, so there's no pressure.

I just want to keep pushing the envelope without it feeling forced.

Even though I've been putting out bodies of work for years, 'Beauty Behind the Madness' felt like the beginning.

Thanks to my fans that have been with me from the beginning, I was able to sell out arenas on my own.

I feel like I'm the kind of guy that would have kids before getting married. The first thing would be kids.

When you come to my show, I want it to feel like opera, like a theatre.

I want to produce the music to a movie that I'm working on, like what Prince did with 'Purple Rain.'

The whole 'enigmatic artist' thing, I just ran with it.

I wish I could make music about politics. I feel like it's such an art and a talent that I admire tremendously, but when I step into the studio, I step out of the real world, and it's therapeutic.