The Weeknd Premiers New Music During TikTok Virtual Concert
Written by SOURCE on August 8, 2020
The past 24 hours have been pretty eventful for The Weeknd fans.
Just hours after sharing his posthumous collaboration with Juice WLRD, the XO singer-songwriter came through with The Weeknd Experience, an interactive virtual concert presented by TikTok.
The event went live on Friday with 3D renderings, picture-in-picture video, and The Weeknd in avatar form as he took the audience “on an epic After Hours journey.” The experience also introduces hashtag challenges and trippy creative effects. Wave, the brains behind the event and a market leader in interactive virtual entertainment experiences of its kind, created it to encompass a unique at-home experience. The Weeknd was especially ideal for this launch given his status as Spotify’s most listened-to artist and his After Hours opus, which became the most-streamed R&B album in history.
Under its charitable hat, The Weeknd Experience is also raising funds for the Equal Justice Initiative, which aims to end mass incarceration and excessive punishment at the national level, among other racial and economic justice goals. TikTok will match those funds at a generous amount as well, and fans are able to donate to the organization within the app. They can also purchase exclusive merch inspired by the experience (at limited availability from August 6 through August 10), as proceeds will be forwarded to EJI.
In addition to the cuts he performed from After Hours, The Weeknd also gifted viewers with an exclusive music premiere in a surprise move.
According to Chart Data, the app also crashed when fans were given the opportunity to vote on having the virtual Weeknd lick a frog.
A one-of-a-kind experience indeed.
