Upon interviewing fellow first years at Laurier Brantford, it can be noted that they enjoy a wide variety of music. However, it seems that, The Weeknd, is an artist buzzing in a lot of headphones lately.

Originally named as Abel Tesfaye, The Weeknd, is a Canadian artist who has been actively making music since 2010. He sings with a falsetto and his songs consist of bass and echoes, which for many is a fresh, unique style. People enjoy his sound due to it being different. Many students know about The Weeknd, as a result of his songs always being played on the radio and his memorable lyrics. One of his popular songs, “Earned it” is featured in the movie Fifty Shades of Grey.

Many first year Laurier Brantford students, who listen to The Weeknd, have many good things to say about his music, like, Husnain Ahmed who said that, “He doesn’t play your typical pop songs. He has a uniqueness about him, and you can’t compare him to other artists”.

Before all the fame, The Weeknd would anonymously upload songs he had produced featuring his rapping on Youtube. Kemi Abolarinde, a first year Laurier student said, “I started to like him before he was famous.”

Many people like the fact that The Weeknd’s music is relaxing and catchy. “He’s just super chill,” said Aimee Lamont.

The Weeknd continues to gain popularity and support from his fellow music artists such as Sam Smith and Drake.

Aside from The Weeknd, EDM is amongst the first year students interviewed. “It is fun music to dance to,” said Aimee Lamont.

Rap music is notably touchy genre, and appears to be a style that students either ardently love or hate.

Popular rap artists first years are listening to on campus are Kanye West and Macklemore.

“I like Kanye West because he is a genius. His music is upbeat and makes me want to party,” said Nolaawi Afework.

“Macklemore’s lyrics talk about the real issues of the world,” said Stephan Reilly.

Many of the first years interviewed had an aversion to country music. It seems to be as a result of students finding it annoying and hard to dance to. “I’ve grown up in the city so country music to me is not fun,” said Tyler Hall.

“Personally, it’s not relatable and I find most of the songs sound the same and that the tunes are not catchy for me to listen to them,” said Erin Watson.

Some students are on the other side of the spectrum when it comes to country music. “The lyrics actually mean something. There are more positive messages in country music such as family and friendship,” said Matthew Petitti.

“[Country is] relatable and tells a story,” said Julianne Roberts.

Although Taylor Swift is not represented as a pure country artist anymore, some students at Laurier Brantford express how they still love her old country style of music. “Her music is romantic, fun to dance to and easy to sing” said, Chloe Holmeshaw.

While The Weeknd may be the most popular artist listened to by the interviewed first year students at Laurier Brantford, there remains to be so many different types of music out there that appeal to a variety people.