While most entertainers itch and beg for any recognition possible, Toronto's up-and-coming R&B star Abel Tesfaye is gaining fame in a much rarer way: through his skill.

Active since 2008, Abel started out as a complete unknown. And even when the band or artist name "The Weeknd" began to surface late last year, nobody had a clue it was linked to Abel, still a nobody.

But through undeniable talent, The Weeknd gained attention on YouTube. He debuted his first mixtape, House of Balloons, for free online back in March.

His cult-like following enthusiastically attended his debut live show in his hometown this past weekend. And while no cameras were supposed to be allowed, they were in fact everywhere, with rabid fans posting their videos on YouTube like madmen—and OMGICU combining said videos with impressed fans on Twitter to create a neat crowdsourced video of Abel's performing one of his best songs, High For This.


So here we have a Canadian who puts his music up for free on YouTube, communicates to fans primarily through Twitter, and is clearly destined for great things. If only more artists could leverage social media to gain fame based on love from fans as deftly as Abel as managed. We might have a few less "popstars" and a few more Weeknds.

Here is Mora Article About Abel

This Friday morning, the bountiful beast that is the Internet has bestowed upon us a brand new days-of-the-week-themed musical offering: Thursday, a new mixtape from The Weeknd.

The Weeknd, Toronto-based R&B singer Abel Tesfaye, is an Internet-born star who released his debut mixtape, House of Balloons, for free via his website in March (click the arrow on his website to access it yourself). The album, which is NSFW, managed to capture the attention of both the music biz — the artist is still, however, unsigned — and the web as a whole.

Read More @DireTube News