As of February 2026, The Weeknd, also known as Abel Tesfaye, is the fourth most-streamed artist on Spotify, but even the Grammys couldn’t recognise the talent and effort he put into his latest album, Hurry Up Tomorrow.
In 2020, The Weeknd released his 4th studio album, After Hours, which was received incredibly well commercially and critically. However, during the 63rd Grammys in 2021, After Hours wasn’t nominated for a single award, upsetting both The Weeknd and his fans. This led him to boycott the Grammys and to claim that they were corrupt and had secret committees. The Weeknd released his 5th studio album, Dawn FM, in 2022. While being received well, Abel did not submit it for Grammy nominations due to the previous snub.
Hurry Up Tomorrow, released in February of 2025, received high reviews from both critics and fans, with an average user score of 78 on Album Of The Year. It debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 album chart in February 2025, selling 490,500 equivalent album units in its first week in the U.S. This album also features a variety of big-name producers and other artists, including MIKE DEAN, Justice, Giorgio Moroder, Future, and Lana Del Rey.
Just a few days after Hurry Up Tomorrow’s release, during the 67th Grammys, Harvey Mason Jr, CEO of the Recording Academy, released an apology to Abel and invited him to perform “Timeless” with Playboi Carti and “Cry For Me” solo at the award show. He accepted the invitation and put on an amazing performance.
When the Grammys released their nominations for the 68th (2026) Grammy Awards, The Weeknd was not nominated for a single award again. Fans were shocked because they believed that the Recording Academy and The Weeknd had resolved their issues because of the apology. While Abel hasn’t spoken about it, fans are very upset, myself included.
Hurry Up Tomorrow should’ve received Grammy nominations because it was one of the best albums to release in 2025. This 22-track album has only one skip (excluding the two interludes), “Big Sleep.” Even with one flawed song, I still think every track brings something unique and enjoyable to the table.
A standout is the 12th track, “I Can’t Wait To Get There,” featuring amazing background vocals from Tommy Parker and a really groovy bassline. The song talks about his struggles with being a public figure: “Tryna end all my dramas, tryna clean up my closet. ‘Cause the media hate it when they can never control us.” It’s a pretty deep lyric, and it’s definitely deeper than almost any lyric on an album like Man’s Best Friend by Sabrina Carpenter, which was nominated in multiple Grammy categories.
Most of the nominated albums stick to one genre, while this album includes a variety of genres like synth-pop, R&B, trap, and others. For example, the fourth track, “São Paulo” (feat. Anitta), explores Brazilian funk, a unique genre that The Weeknd has never worked with before.
Hurry Up Tomorrow connects to some of The Weeknd’s previous albums, like the closing track, “Hurry Up Tomorrow.” The song’s ending perfectly transitions into “High For This,” the first song on Abel’s 2011 debut mixtape, House Of Balloons. It’s pretty rare for a mainstream album to have this kind of detail, so I think the Grammys should’ve appreciated smaller details like this.
Hurry Up Tomorrow was one of, if not the best album release in 2025, which is why it was absolutely robbed. If you want to listen to Hurry Up Tomorrow for fun, or critique it on your own, you should really check it out.
