The Weeknd Is Working With Daft Punk

How do you follow up a career-defining blockbuster? You link up with Daft Punk. It worked for Kanye West, and now The Weeknd is doing it. In an installment of Billboard‘s Hitmakers Roundtable series, Republic Records’ EVP Wendy Goldstein was asked who she’d like to work with, and when The Weeknd’s label boss answered, she revealed the two acts booked studio time.

“We have a session coming up in two days… with The Weeknd and Daft Punk,” she said. “I’ve always been a massive Daft Punk fan, so this is the first time that I’m actually involved with an artist who is actually going to go work with them.”

The interview flew under the radar for a few weeks, but The Weeknd himself seemed to confirm the news last week when he posted a photo of Daft Punk figurines in the studio.

The French dance duo of Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo memorably scored production credits on four tracks from Yeezus in 2013 — “On Sight,” “Black Skinhead,” “I Am A God” and “Send It Up” — so it’ll be interesting to see if they go the sinister route again with The Weeknd. At this point it’s unclear what exactly they’re working on, but the Toronto star has been chipping away at his Beauty Behind The Madness follow-up — and for that he has put in time with another Kanye collaborator, Cashmere Cat, as well as the team behind his breakout House Of Balloons mixtape.

About a year ago, The Hood Internet sort of predicted this pairing when they mashed up “Can’t Feel My Face” and “Around The World,” so maybe that can serve as a preview of what they’re cooking up.