"Often" is a song by the Canadian singer-songwriter

the Weeknd Abel Makkonen Tesfaye (; born February 16, 1990), known professionally as the Weeknd, is a Canadian singer-songwriter, record producer, and actor. He is best known for adding Pop music, pop, electronic music, electronic and hip-hop stylings ...

. It was released on July 31, 2014, as the

lead single A lead single (or first single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. A similar term, "debut ...

from his second studio album, ''

Beauty Behind the Madness ''Beauty Behind the Madness'' is the second studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter the Weeknd. It was released on August 28, 2015, through XO and Republic Records. It features guest appearances from Labrinth, Ed Sheeran and Lana Del Rey. T ...

'' (2015). The song contains a sample from "Ben Sana Vurgunum" by Turkish singer

Nükhet Duru Nükhet Duru (born 19 May 1954) is a Turkish singer. Career She started singing at Florya Deniz Club in Istanbul in 1971. She released her first 45 album ''Aklımda Sen Fikrimde Sen – Karadır Kaşların'' in 1974. It was followed by many sing ...

. "Often" peaked within the top 60 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and the top 70 of the

Canadian Hot 100 The Canadian Hot 100 is a music industry record chart in Canada for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' magazine. It was launched on the issue dated March 31, 2007 as the standard record chart in Canada; a new chart ...

. The song won two awards at the 2015 Much Music Video Awards, Video of the Year and Best Director.

Background

The Weeknd initially released "Often" exclusively on the streaming service

SoundCloud SoundCloud is a German audio streaming service owned and operated by SoundCloud Global Limited & Co. KG. The service enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is ...

on June 25, 2014. The song was officially released on

Apple Music Apple Music is an audio and video streaming service developed by Apple Inc. Users can select music to stream to their device on-demand, or listen to existing playlists. The service also includes the sister internet radio stations Apple Musi ...

a month later, on July 31.

Composition & lyrics

According to the sheet music published by Songs Music Publishing at Musicnotes.com, "Often" is written in the key of

G minor G minor is a minor scale based on G, consisting of the pitches G, A, B, C, D, E, and F. Its key signature has two flats. Its relative major is B-flat major and its parallel major is G major. The G natural minor scale is: Changes n ...

, and follows a tempo of 68 beats per minute. The Weeknd's vocal range spans from F4 to G5. The lyrics of the song primarily explore the theme of sex, with ''

Stereogum ''Stereogum'' is a daily Internet publication that focuses on music news, reviews, interviews, and commentary. The site was created in January 2002 by Scott Lapatine. ''Stereogum'' was one of the first MP3 blogs and has received several awar ...

'' saying that the Weeknd sings about "how good eis at fucking," but that he makes it sound like an "absolutely exhausting burden."

Critical reception

Justin Davis of ''Complex'' said that the Weeknd was "less dour and a little more excited on this song in comparison with most of the releases from his debut studio album, '' Kiss Land'' (2013), and "Often" turns him back to his more lyrical days with a stronger delivery." April Clare Welsh of ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'' stated the Weeknd "sounds like R Kelly on

Viagra Sildenafil, sold under the brand name Viagra among others, is a medication used to treat erectile dysfunction and pulmonary arterial hypertension. It is also sometimes used off-label for the treatment of certain symptoms in secondary Ray ...

, spoiling a track that’s seductive enough on its own with lines like 'Baby I can make that pussy rain often.'"

Commercial performance

In the United States, "Often" debuted at number 97 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart on the week of November 1, 2014. On the week of February 7, 2015, the song peaked at number 59. The song spent a total of 20 weeks on the chart. On December 7, 2016, the single was certified

triple platinum Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

(RIAA) for combined sales and streaming equivalent units of over three million units in the United States. In Canada, the song debuted at number 95 on the

chart on the week of November 1, 2014. On the week of February 28, 2015, it peaked at number 69 on the chart. The song spent a total of 20 weeks on the chart. The single was certified gold by

Music Canada Music Canada is a non-profit Industry trade group, trade organization that was founded 9 April 1963 in Toronto to represent the interests of companies that record, manufacture, produce, and distribute music in Canada. It also offers benefits to s ...

for sales of over 40,000 copies in Canada.

Music video

A music video for "Often" was released on August 21, 2014. It depicts the Weeknd in a hotel room, accompanied by several women in various implicit states of undress.

Remixes

The official remix features additional verses from

Rick Ross William Leonard Roberts II (born January 28, 1976), known professionally as Rick Ross, is an American rapper. An influential figure in modern Hip-hop, hip hop music, Rick Ross has become known for his "Wiktionary:booming, booming" vocal perfor ...

and

Schoolboy Q Quincy Matthew Hanley (born October 26, 1986), better known by his stage name Schoolboy Q (stylized as ScHoolboy Q), is an American rapper. He began recording in 2007, and released his first two mixtapes, ''ScHoolboy Turned Hustla'' (2008) and '' ...

. Another remix, by Norwegian

record producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...

and DJ

Kygo Kyrre Gørvell-Dahll (; born 11 September 1991), known professionally as Kygo (), is a Norwegian DJ and music producer. He first received international attention with his December 2013 remix of the track " I See Fire" by Ed Sheeran and his De ...

was also released.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2014 songs 2014 singles The Weeknd songs Song recordings produced by the Weeknd Songs written by Belly (rapper) Songs written by DaHeala Songs written by the Weeknd Republic Records singles XO (record label) singles