The Weeknd ruffled feathers Wednesday (April 8) when an excerpt from his interview with ‘Variety’ nabbed headlines for insinuating his ‘game changing music’ influenced a wave of other singers, specifically Usher (click here to read).
The Grammy winner (born Abel Tesfaye) name-dropped the R&B veteran’s 2012 hit, ‘Climax,’ as evidence of those who swiped his sound – a suggestion met with staunch disapproval from the latter’s fan base.
One supporter, Elijah Blake (who is credited as the tune’s songwriter), took particular offense to Tesfaye’s claim and took to Instagram to clap back on Usher’s behalf.
Look inside to see what he said:
The caption reads:
“Going nowhere fast we’ve reached the climax… {? x @whoiswarrenwhite } p.s. if that Baaahaaa Goat sobbing, house fan adjacent vibrato, Caprisun built troll don’t go sit down somewhere and do his warm up scales”
Blake’s fiery comments come just a month after he referred to self-proclaimed R&B monarch Jacquees as ‘the king of Burger King.’
Click here to read more about that.
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The increased chatter around the R&B #1 hit, which served as the lead single to Ush’s 7th studio album, ‘Looking 4 Myself,’ is actually serving to its benefit. Alongside press garnered from The Weeknd’s comments, social media is currently engaged in a #Climaxchallenge – a viral sensation that challenges singers to upload videos of themselves singing the tune.
Listed among Twitter’s top 10 trending topics Thursday (April 9), the hashtag’s rising popularity has pushed the nearly 10-year-old song to re-enter and climb the iTunes 1000 as a result.
Elijah blake= ??
ur one claim to fame is writing a top 20 hit
How many have you written?
lmaooooo she cant read or write like that mexican flop she stans lmfaoooooooooo
Can’t believe I’m agreeing with Clark ? Elijah needs to sit his lil tail down!
Doesn’t matter
The Weeknd should’ve stayed in his pop white girl lane
Elijah Blake looks dumb as hell right now! ?
https://twitter.com/theweeknd/status/1248328198510657543
I like the weeknd and i don’t like this song lol
I mean i dont like both
I dont know one Elijah Blake song of the top of my head but i see why he’s pissed. It SOUNDS like the weeknd is coming for a legend (usher) and is acting all flattered and influential, so thats probably why Elijah is pissed.
Also the song uses Usher’s falsetto which he’s always used and Diplo’s futuristic production, thats hardly something the weeknd came up with.
Anyway the Weeknd is getting too cocky – he needs to have a flop to humble himself (although i do love blinding lights and a frw other of his new ones).
Also The Weeknd has Max Martin and his team of writers to credit alot for his mainstream success accross the world…they gave him his first top 10 with Lover Me Harder, then Cant Feel my Face, then another song In the Night, then 5 songs on StarBoy, now Blinding Lights, In Your Eyes and 2 other songs on After Hours…just a thought!
Nobody gave the weeknd anything
He worked hard and kept releasing good songs until he hit it BIG with the hills
He came into the industry with his own unique sound and vibe and energy
Nobody gave him anything, he wrote and sang all those songs.
The way u talk as if every max Martin song is successful
Max Martin wrote normani’s motivation and where did the song go? NOWHERE
Climax sounds like a rip off of a the weeknd song. That’s a fact
He shouldn’t have name dropped usher cause usher is a legend and has done so much.
He should have left this conversation at the dining table or amongst his circle
The Weeknd should have been aborted.
lmaoooooo gurl shut up until flopmila cafloppo can hit #1 without some rappers c*ck between her legs lmfaoooooooooo
Why is normani always the standard lol? Shes barely in the game yet so dont know why shes in this convo. Max/Ariana sound gave her a top 40, if she had another alt. Rnb song (aka Waves) as the lead she wouldnt even debut on the charts in the top 100 (which she didnt). So yes max was a recipe to her Minor success as well.
I think you’re forgetting that max has had over 20 #1s and countless good ass top 10s and top 40s across 20+ years, so if the weeknd didnt need him why would he release/record 11 songs with him over 5 years? He needed that pop sound to break into mainstream, most ppl do and the weeknd is no exception.
The weeknd hit it big with the hills after his intro into the mainstream pop world and that HAIRCUT. When he got a distinct style and that crazy hair people who didnt notice him before noticed him. The hills isnt even as good as his mixtape songs, and it only wen #1 in surprise surprise, in the US and Canada. When he got max and signed to republic he got I cant feel my face which was his first worldwide #1.
Anyway this is about the usher ripoff, he cant come for a legend when his whiny voice doesnt compare to ushers! (And i love the weeknd somgs). Alt. Rnb isnt the weeknd’s, its a genre – NEXT
Elijah hush sweetie. We can barely hear from inside the closet. You can’t even get on the charts. You aren’t even a one hit wonder.
This dude Elijah is gay
I went to his Instagram and he is giving Atlanta gay bòttom realness.
?
And what does that have to do with him calling the weakend out on his b*******?
Okay, but he can get it.
With a read like that, you’d think he was a frequent user of the message boards on here ??
I wondered on Terrell Grice’s show, but now knowing where he’s from, if he is..he’ll never come out. We are obsessed with Machismo, smh
Lmao and there you have it. The weakend needs to shut his goat yodeling cat screeching off key ass the hell up. And oh yeah, give Bruno Mars his style back while you’re at it.
Climax is wack lol…they trying HARD y’all ? ? ?
Tell that to the weakend. Hes the one who’s trying too hard to convince folks that they stole that so called “wack” song from him…..
You KNOW the Usher classics…My Boo, Nice N Slow, Burn to name a few…nobody is coming for the real bops and the girls are losing it ?
This was rude to say in public, but I agree that The Weeknd cannot sing. I actually don’t think any of these R&B guys can truly hold a note.
Chris Brown-wonderful ear for music, excellent production-sounds terrible without autotune, people drag Ciara, but he’s LITERALLY the male Ciara. Can dance his behind off and should just model.
Trey Songz-He sounds like he’s sitting on top of a washing machine
Tory Lanez-haven’t heard him live, so I won’t comment
T-Pain-He’s okay, but made his career off of autotune
Usher-He can hold a note, but it’s not a voice you NEED to hear
Mario is iffy. He sounds good in the studio, but his live performances are pitchy.
After Michael Jackson, men in R&B decided singing in falsetto ALL of the time was cute, in addition to lifting their shirts to distract from lack of talent.
Tank can SANG and for some reason he never comes up in these discussions.
And JAHEIM?!?!?! He’ll make you throw a shoe at him. But neither Tank or Jaheim are considered “relevant”.
And the closest to a living “Voice” is Ruben Studdard who people threw away after American Idol.
Throw the whole comment away. I forgot about Brian McKnight of the SOUND TABLE!! Cee-Lo is a beast as well. We don’t give anyone their flowers in R&B. Heck, even Jon B. can sing these new boys under a table. Give me him over Sam Smith anyday. Robin Thicke wishes.
Keith Sweat, Charlie Wilson, LUTHER VANDROSS, MUSIQ SOULCHILD, ANTHONY HAMILTON. Even Lyfe Jennings.
DAY26!!!! How dare One Direction be the boyband of our times.
Okay, I’m done.
None of those are current acts
Those are legends
This is so messy!!! The Weeknd shouldn’t have said anything! He must be back on drugs. Doesn’t he realize usher has like 8-9 albums and The Weeknd only has like 4? Like wtf? This isn’t making either of them look good.
Diplo just spilled the tea ☕️
https://twitter.com/theweeknd/status/1248328198510657543