Hurry The **** Up Tomorrow, Abel Tesfaye.
“Our final odyssey,” Hurry Up Tomorrow is Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye’s upcoming new album, marking his final chapter in the trilogy that began with After Hours (2020) and continued with Dawn FM (2022).
Initially teased as the “?” album on Jan. 7, 2024, and hinting at concepts of “rebirth,” “unprepared certainty,” and a gazing abyss, The Weeknd plans on making this a chapter we’ll never forget and wishing “we took our time.”
On top of Tesfaye’s strategic unveiling of Hurry Up Tomorrow, XO fans eagerly awaits the album’s release— taking to social media posting theories, art, edits, memes and more to fill the void in the meantime.
Here are some iconic posts from The Weeknd and his fans following the Hurry Up Tomorrow era:
“?” to “ALBUM TITLE” and “ALBUM COVER”
On Dawn FM’s second anniversary, Tesfaye took to Instagram revealing the beginning of his new era. Generating over 6 million likes, his post captioned “3️⃣” confirmed After Hours and Dawn FM are prequels coinciding with the final album.
The post featured a carousel of three images: the album covers, After Hours and Dawn FM, followed by a subtle black TV static background and a glowing white “?” with a Parental Advisory label.
This post, which aligns with Tesfaye’s previous hints about ending the “Weeknd” persona after this project, has fueled excitement and curiosity about the album’s theme.
The album I’m working on now is probably my last hurrah as The Weeknd. This is something that I have to do. As The Weeknd, I’ve said everything I can say.
Abel Tesfaye, W Magazine May 8, 2023
The Weeknd’s Recent Highlights
2021 was The Weeknd’s Superbowl LV Halftime Show featuring songs from After Hours, including 2020’s most streamed song: “Blinding Lights.” Tesfaye also achieved 10 Billboard Music Awards and had mesmerizing collaborations with Doja Cat and Ariana Grande.
2022 was the run of The Weeknd’s “Dawn FM Experience” with his purgatorial, old aged in-character performances, cinematic music videos (such as “Out of Time” with HoYeon Jung and Jim Carrey), and the first leg of the After Hours ’til Dawn Stadium Tour.
2023 was the year of HBO’s The Idol. Starring Abel Tesfaye and Lily-Rose Depp, it became one of the summer’s most talked-about cultural events. Its accompanying soundtrack, featuring “Popular” and “One of the Girls,” became Tesfaye’s defining songs of the summer, too.
After many hardworking years, 2024 concludes as another successful year for Abel Tesfaye. He unveiled his new album’s name and cover, performed a one-night only concert in São Paulo, Brazil, and holds the record for having the most songs with over a billion streams on Spotify.
“Yesterday was fourteen years ago,” began the eerie minimalist video in bold red text. On Sept. 4, Tesfaye’s prologue announced Hurry Up Tomorrow as the “ALBUM TITLE”:
On Sept. 7, the day of São Paulo’s concert, Tesfaye debuted his raw emotion, self-portrait “ALBUM COVER”:
New Music Videos
Following the album’s title, cover, and São Paulo’s concert, Tesfaye published the first single of Hurry Up Tomorrow, “Dancing In The Flames,” on Sept. 13, directed by Anton Tammi and Erik Henriksson and produced by Abel Tesfaye, Max Martin, and Oscar Holter.
Partnered with Apple, the iPhone 16 Pro music video features The Weeknd driving in a red convertible through a rainstorm. Later, he runs towards a sunset-orange light, where an ambulance eventually meets him.
“Ever since I was a kid, I’ve been legit,” sings Tesfaye on his second single, “Timeless,” with Atlanta-born rapper Playboi Carti.
Officially released on Sept. 27, “Timeless” takes a more hip-hop vibe, adding to Tesfaye’s diverse discography between R&B/Soul, Pop, and Hip-Hop.
“Timeless” symbolizes the rise to fame and the legacy they’ve established in the music industry. The music video shows The Weeknd & Playboi Carti dancing in baggy, sleek black outfits and a glimpse of The Weeknd’s cityscape stage set used on tour.
“São Paulo” is The Weeknd’s third single with Brazilian artist Anitta. The track dropped on Halloween with a music video reminiscent of the After Hours era.
While “Too Late” and “In Your Eyes” (2020) included Parental Advisory warnings, maybe “São Paulo” was on the brink of needing one too. Directed by Freeka Tet and Monica Mirabile, Anitta’s character is heavily pregnant with a creepy singing mouth on her stomach.
“São Paulo” leaks surfaced on TikTok before the one-night-only concert, with fans anticipating it to be on Hurry Up Tomorrow. After debuting the song live with “Timeless,” Tesfaye waited until Oct. 31 to drop the song and video on streaming platforms.
Open Hearts: An “Apple Immersive Music Experience”
“Open Hearts” is the latest music video connected to Hurry Up Tomorrow.
The teaser highlights an ambulance (as seen in “Dancing In The Flames”), a deserted area with horses, and him on stage with his new black and gold vestment.
Viewers journey alongside the artist on an electrifying sonic voyage as he weaves his way through a surreal, haunting cityscape. Fans are invited to see the immersive experience in its entirety — and enjoy the magic of spatial computing — by booking an Apple Vision Pro demo at their local Apple Store beginning tomorrow, Nov. 15.
Apple Newsroom
The Weeknd’s “Open Hearts” is exclusively available to watch in Apple Stores and the Apple TV app with Vision Pro.
Fan Artwork
Hurry Up Tomorrow sparked a wave of creative interpretations. Fans opened their sketchbooks, canvases, and digital paintbrushes to explore the album’s modern and mysterious Renaissance vibes.
The Guinness World Record holder for “Most The Weeknd songs identified from their lyrics in one minute,” Karla (@kxodesigns) created a faceless portrait of The Weeknd’s After Hours and Dawn FM personas holding onto Tesfaye’s H.U.T.‘s character.
Captioned “the second trilogy,” Karla’s art has been reposted on @MementoMoriXO on X, receiving over 1,000 likes on X and Instagram.
A striking comic book cover by @TheSkelltons features The Weeknd seated in the spotlight under a thunderstorm. With crimson red accents, the retro artwork illustrates the same tank-top in Karla’s piece, but seeing his two previous personas lifeless.
@skelltons has been posting comic-style artwork of The Weeknd on Instagram since 2021.
Abhidyu’s (@abhidyuxo) artwork of The Weeknd’s newest trilogy is inspired by Michael Jackson’s Dangerous (1991) album cover.
Abhidyu’s art seamlessly connects After Hours, Dawn FM, and early visuals from Hurry Up Tomorrow. The piece includes highly detailed symbolism with a kid-version of Tesfaye, women featured in the “Too Late” and “Take My Breath” music videos, and Tesfaye’s eyes from an early teaser in July 2024.
Abhidyu attracted thousands of likes with his artworks inspired by the singer.
“The greatest trilogy known to man,” captioned Gokul (@_goxart_) with three artworks illustrating After Hours, Dawn FM, and Hurry Up Tomorrow.
Gokul features a collection of over 100 artworks inspired The Weeknd on Instagram. He also celebrated the 6th anniversary of “Go X Art” on Nov. 9.
As I evolved, so did my art. From childhood sketches to digital masterpieces, animation, and photo edits, Abel’s music remained my guiding light. His words, “Evolution is a satisfying accomplishment,” resonated deeply.
Gokul, @_goxart_
Graphic Design Animation
Camille Vialet (@cvialet_), a visual artist, designed and edited a one-minute animation called “HURRY UP TOMORROW” using snippets of The Weeknd’s “Wake Me Up” and “Timeless”.
The Weeknd’s Phantom of the Opera mask is referenced along with contrasts of light and dark.
To tie it all together, Abel Tesfaye has previously acknowledged and appreciated the work of Karla, Skelltons, Abhidyu, Go X Art, Camille, and more fan artists by liking or engaging with their creations.
Fan Theories
From predicting a new purple era to figuring out The Weeknd’s connection with Artificial Intelligence, XO’s have an eye finding symbolism in this new trilogy.
Before and after the announcement of Hurry Up Tomorrow, fans theorized and analyzed what to expect in his new era.
1. Red + Blue = Purple, Right?
After Dawn FM, many fans theorized that The Weeknd’s third album of the trilogy would have a purple cover. Why? After Hours (red cover) plus Dawn FM (blue cover) equals purple, of course.
The final chapter of The Weeknd’s album being purple was a popular theory earlier in 2024. Tesfaye reshared several fan artwork that played with the idea it would be purple, too.
But now debunked, Hurry Up Tomorrow’s album and visuals have an orange palette (so far).
2. “Everything Will Fade” – The Weeknd
In February 2024, The Weeknd signified a new beginning and the past fading. On Instagram he posted “Everything Fades….” and on X he began deleting all of his old tweets.
In a series of quickly deleted tweets, he posted: “EVERYTHING” “WILL” “Fade”.
The popular theory behind “Everything Fades” is The Weeknd letting go of his 10+ year stage name and moving forward as Abel Tesfaye.
3. Artificial Intelligence & The Future
In June 2024, Tesfaye was featured in 032c’s 45th issue, where he experimented with messaging 10-year-old Abel through Chat GPT. They talked about watching cartoons, their relationship with God, superpowers, and their mom.
Inspired by this magazine piece and comparing The Weeknd’s MF DOOM-inspired mask to an android, grendelltheskald theorizes that The Weeknd is “supposedly training AI data on himself.”
The thoughtful theory on Reddit is titled: “Tears in the Rain: Does The Weeknd Dream of Electric Sheep?”
Grendelltheskald’s theory is at a crossroads between Artificial Intelligence and distinguishing identities between The Weeknd and Abel.
In his interview last year, he strongly implied that this album would be the album when Abel kills the Weeknd… for Abel to live, The Weeknd must die… but that doesn’t mean there’s no afterlife. So we see a showdown… authentic self vs. artificial self.
Grendelltheskald, Reddit
Artificial Intelligence has been controversial when it comes to creating art and music, with rising debates on copyright protection.
Some fans wonder if The Weeknd’s small teases of using AI to create content should be reconsidered. For example, São Paulo’s one-night concert promotional teaser, directed by YZA Voku, featured AI-generated images.
But someone like The Weeknd? He’s been able to afford visuals made by humans for a long time so it makes me wonder if he should consider what message he is sending with the platform he has.
@xo_sad_sigh_cry, X
The Weeknd talking to Chat GPT, São Paulo’s concert teaser, partnering with Apple for music videos, and his After Hours ’til Dawn Leg 2 Tour outfit and Sorayama statue may hint at a futuristic aesthetic.
4. The Divine Comedy
The Divine Comedy is an epic from the early 14th century by Dante Alighieri. The Italian narrative poem is spiritually told in three parts: Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso.
Reddit user justinbieberismymans noticed similarities in After Hours and Dawn FM that reflects Dante’s epic poem in 2022.
They predict that After Hours represents Hell (Inferno) and Dawn FM represents Purgatory (Purgatorio). Then, the third album would represent “Abel transitioning out of the dark, deviant lifestyle.”
I know it’s too early to tell and this is definitely a stretch but I feel like this new trilogy could end up as a mirror of the Divine Comedy by Dante.
Reddit, justinbieberismymans (January 10, 2022)
Further supporting this theory is “When The Weeknd Met Dante” from Canterbury Classics Books’ blog in 2023. Brian Boone’s post suggests that The Weeknd “might be working on a musical version of The Divine Comedy.”
In After Hours, the songs are “concerned with drugs and debauchery,” use imagery of “Sin City” (Las Vegas), and promote “devilishly red” colors.
In Dawn FM, “the Purgatorio record,” the songs are about a man trying to heal, having regrets, making amends, and “do better in the future.”
In Purgatory, Dante goes through the same cleansing process in that celestially gray area. (The color scheme for Dawn FM, for what it’s worth: grays.)
Brian Boone, Canterbury Classics Books blog, “When The Weeknd Met Dante”
Connecting After Hours and Dawn FM, The Divine Comedy theory highly suggests that The Weeknd’s Hurry Up Tomorrow will symbolize Paradiso (Heaven).
Fan Edits
With many celebrity fandoms on social media, “edits” are fan-made reimagined photos, videos, or audio from media that already exists. Most fan edits typically show appreciation for a celebrity by highlighting their best moments.
Fan edits can be seen on Instagram, X, and TikTok with added filters, subtitles, music, visuals, and transitions.
Like art, The Weeknd’s fans are creatives when it comes to creating edits of his music, photos, and clips.
@stargirlhoursx2 crafted a collage of The Weeknd’s happiest moments in 2024:
Irina (@thequxotes), running an Instagram fan page for The Weeknd, created a video edit using “Open Hearts” and anime visuals:
@igotfungi made an edit showing a comparison from Tesfaye’s first trilogy in 2012 and a recent H.U.T. visual:
@olixviaa’s photo edit quotes lyrics from “Every Angel is Terrifying” on Dawn FM. The edit shows a transition of all three trilogy characters and features low-light hues of black and white, red and blue:
@abelsdawnn’s photo edit references similarities from “Faith” and “Gasoline,” wondering if Tesfaye will have a song with lyrics about “OD’ing” in Hurry Up Tomorrow:
And lastly, @weekndechoes created an edit using Tesfaye’s concert, teasers and music video visuals from Hurry Up Tomorrow‘s era:
São Paulo’s One Night Only Concert
The Weeknd’s electrifying, sold-out concert in São Paulo on Sept. 7 was unforgettable for fans in Brazil and beyond.
He debuted new music, his vestment outfit to match Hurry Up Tomorrow’s theme, and new theatrical choreography from Tesfaye’s dancers, the StarGirls.
In a now private video, the concert was live-streamed on YouTube. The YouTube Team calls it a “rare musical experience” and a “never-seen-before performance.”
Moments like this give us the chance to connect in real time at least and share that energy together, no matter where you are.
Abel Tesfaye, YouTube Official Blog
Tesfaye exclusively performed songs from After Hours, Dawn FM, and Hurry Up Tomorrow. Playboi Carti and Anitta also made guest appearances, performing their respective new collaborations.
Hurry Up Tomorrow Memes
Like edits, fans created memes, too. The Weeknd’s XO fans are having fun with captions, photos, videos, and more during Hurry Up Tomorrow’s rollout.
One of the first and most popular memes is “Hurry The F*** Up Tomorrow,” an edited screenshot mimicking The Weeknd’s “ALBUM TITLE” post in the same font.
The Weeknd also joined in on the fun by reposting the meme when promoting “Dancing In The Flames” and “Timeless” in September.
“Hurry The F*** Up Tomorrow” continues to be a fan favorite meme when engaging with Tesfaye on social media.
During São Paulo’s concert, @arixabeI pointed out contrasting choreography between Abel and Anitta:
@mustafayousifxo regularly creates and posts memes about The Weeknd with this one praising “Timeless”:
While Hurry Up Tomorrow’s album cover is symbolic to The Weeknd’s trilogy, YouTube followed the staring meme (also reposted by Tesfaye):
On the same note of The Weeknd’s São Paulo concert, @alexxplzz described how most XO’s felt watching the livestream:
@igotfungi reimagined if The Weeknd was bald:
Tesfaye wished a fan a Merry Christmas with a dash of “Bahhhh 😝,” as @xo_sad_sigh_cry describes it:
And finally, one of many Hurry Up Tomorrow’s cover edits as used by @dawnfm103_5:
Hurry Up Tomorrow: The Movie
On Nov. 4, Deadline first published the news that The Weeknd’s Hurry Up Tomorrow will also be a psychological-thriller movie from Lionsgate.
The film will be an extension of the album and will star Abel Tesfaye, Jenna Ortega and Barry Keoghan, coming to theaters on May 16, 2025.
“Abel is a visionary whose art cannot be confined by any single medium,” said Adam Fogelson, the chair of Lionsgate Motion Picture Group.
With Hurry Up Tomorrow, in partnership with Trey [Edward Shults], his musical universe expands onto the big screen with a psychological thriller that will usher in a new cinematic experience for fans. We are thrilled to be bringing it to audiences worldwide.
Adam Fogelson, Deadline (November 2024)
“THE END IS NEAR”
The Weeknd concludes his 2024 by broadcasting billboards in major cities worldwide saying “THE END IS NEAR.”
The billboards are written in the style of his previous eras, such as Kiss Land, Beauty Behind The Madness, and Starboy. The letters are also cleverly spaced out to show the missing W, E, and K in the “End”.
Fans have spotted these billboards in New York City, Los Angeles, Atlanta, and London in late December.
Tesfaye also shared videos of these billboards on X:
On Dec. 30, The Weeknd tweeted “8 beautiful chapters in this story.” The post on X features a photo edit in the style of his 2011 mixtapes with all eight of his album eras.
As Hurry Up Tomorrow’s release date approaches, fans embrace for what seems to be Abel Tesfaye’s last year as “The Weeknd” in 2025.
“ALBUM DATE”
Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye has an exciting rollout of announcing new music, performances and subliminal posts teasing Hurry Up Tomorrow so far.
And with the support of his fans, the artwork, edits, memes and active discussions about the album lives up to the hype on social media.
On Nov. 27, The Weeknd announced Hurry Up Tomorrow will be released on Jan. 24, 2025:
“New album, new tour, new movie, new everything.” – The Weeknd at Spotify’s Billions Club Live Concert on Dec. 17 in Los Angeles.
