House of Balloons

There was a time when everyone was wondering who the hell The Weeknd was. Here is what we knew. His take on R&B was pretty unique, or at least from The Dream's school of dark and moody. He wasn't signed. Dude wouldn't do interviews. He had a killer track with a Beach House sample and flipped Siouxsie.

House Of Balloons made a ton of best of lists and nominated for loads of awards at the end of the year and this was just a mixtape. Needless to say, dude made an impact. "What You Need" is a haunting track similar to a James Blake ballad with Dubstep undertones and "Loft Music" is so damn sexy I lost my underwear every listen.