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Ethan Jones

Professor Granillo

English 101

22 September 2019

Hanif Abdurraqib’s Commanding Use of Rhetoric

In his article “The Weeknd And The Future of Loveless Sex” Hanif Abdurraqib writes,

“The Weeknd, real name Abel Tesfaye, sings about sex. The kind of sex you have if you are not

interested in love, but perhaps interested in Warmth”(41). This quote is one example of the

rhetorical strategies that Abdurraqib uses so effectively to argue his perspective. Hanif

Abdurraqib makes use of all three rhetorical appeals, ethos, logos and pathos, as he champions

his viewpoint that opposes The Weeknd, his music and his views on sex. The Weeknd’s music

and live performances highlight an emotionless view of sexual intimacy, while Abdurraqib uses

rhetorical appeals to contend that emotions and feelings are an integral part of being intimate

with someone; consequently, Abdurraqib uses rhetorical strategies to effectively argue his stance

that the fans of The Weeknd must consider the implications of The Weeknd’s unhealthy outlook

on sex.

In Abdurraqib’s article, he points out flaws and concerns he has in how The Weeknd

presents sex as something that is uncomplicated and solely physical to his primarily young

audience. Abdurraqib sets the scene as he describes the crowd's reaction to the pornographic

material The Weeknd plays at his concerts when he writes, “Being that this is an all-ages show,

the parents, undoubtedly dragged here by their children without knowing what to expect, are

either shuttling their children toward the exits or staring in shock with the rest of us, mouths
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open”(Abdurraqib pg.40). The author is addressing both the fans of the Weeknd, as well as their

parents, when he argues for a connection beyond the physical. This quote is only a single

example of Abdurraqib’s most powerful rhetorical tool in this article, his appeals to ethos.

The bread and butter of Abdurraqib’s arguments in “The Weeknd and The Future of

Loveless Sex” is his use of ethos or his appeals to the morals of The Weeknd’s audience. The

starkest of these appeals is his line, “It occurs to me, in the moment, that a lot of kids are going to

have a story about how they went to a concert and ended up sitting through a pornographic film

with their parents”(Abdurraqib 40). This quote builds Abdurraqib’s credibility both because of

the fact that it was his personal experience of attending The Weeknd’s concert, as well as the

moral implications that the experience carries with it. Abdurraqib uses ethos to paint himself as

morally superior to The Weeknd as he illustrates the uncomfortable situation that The Weeknd

has put these parents and their children in.This quote is not the only instance of Abdurraqib

questioning and even condemning The Weeknd’s use of shock and awe to gather attention.

Abdurraqib continues to use appeals to ethos to increase his credibility, while

questioning the morality in The Weeknd’s attention grabbing tactics. He proceeds with his

rhetorical appeals to ethos with a crisp argument in his line, “This was his edge. He’s a marginal

singer, at best, who relies on the same wave of vocal melody to get most of his lyrics

out”(Abdurraqib 40). Abdurraqib is introducing the idea that The Weeknd’s tactics at his

concerts may just be gimmicks to shock his audiences into a memorable experience. This is

another example of Abdurraqib poking holes in the ethics of The Weeknd and his music, in order

to give himself the moral high ground. While Abdurraqib’s most powerful rhetorical arguments

in this article are his appeals to ethos, he makes extremely effective use of pathos as well.
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Abdurraqib uses pathos, or appeals to emotion, to show his readers a somewhat less

skeptical view of The Weeknd, albeit still a negative one. Abdurraqib writes, “ He curses more

than all of his contemporaries, and is young enough to imagine a world in which he is invincible,

so his interest in nihilism does not feel like it’s directly trimming any years off of his life”

(Abdurraqib 40). Here he brings to light the pessimistic and harmful attitude that The Weeknd

preaches to his fans in his songs. He uses pathos to empathize with The Weeknd, admitting that

The Weeknd’s lack of foresight and self image of invincibility is a common thing for most

people around his age; thus showing an understanding of The Weeknd’s views, while still

describing them as something negative. Again and again Abdurraqib comes pack to pathos to

illustrate that sexual intimacy is not just a simple act of physical satisfaction, but is instead an

extremely intimate relationship between two people that brings with it all sorts of complicated

emotions.

Abdurraqib makes incredible use of pathos to share his opinions on sexual intimacy. He

addresses the interior feelings that come with these physical interactions so effectively when he

writes, “What it is to find small pieces of a person who you’ll never get to wholly experience

again. It feels, almost always, like piecing together a road map that places you directly in the

middle of nowhere”(Abdurraqib 45). He masterfully pulls his readers into his own personal,

complicated feelings after a relationship’s end; using his patented powerful imagery to not only

remind the reader of a time that they too felt these complicated emotions, but to force the reader

to feel the complex sentiments all over again through his all too accurate description. The

consequence of Abdurraqib compelling the reader to recall and share these complicated feelings

with him, is an exceedingly strong appeal to pathos that perfectly highlights his stance that sex
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brings elaborate emotions along with it. The subjects Abdurraqib writes about lend themselves to

arguments of pathos, but he does pepper in the odd appeal to logos, or logic.

While it is not Abdurraqib’s most common rhetorical tool, he still makes effective use of

logos. One of the most convincing arguments in the entire article is Abdurraqib using logos to

make a point as he writes, “The way the concert has come full circle: first, him asking if he can

make an audience cum, and then, asking for someone to tell him they love him” (45). He

logically breaks down how The Weeknd doesn’t believe what he is preaching, even if he believes

he does. The author explains how The Weeknd does indeed suffer from the difficult and complex

emotions that come along with his promiscuous endeavors, as much as he may try to convince

his fans otherwise. This argument is so effective, because Abdurraqib is showing the reader that

The Weeknd doesn’t even agree with the premise in his music, sex is simply a physical act. This

quote is just one of many instances of Abdurraqib making excellent use of rhetoric to get his

points across.

Abdurraqib argues his perspective through the use of these three rhetorical strategies,

ethos, pathos, and logos. His stance that sexual intimacy creates a complicated relationship with

complex emotions is argued by building up his stance while, at the same time, bringing the flaws

in The Weeknd’s viewpoint to the forefront . Abdurraqib is an excellent example of an author

who has mastered the use of these rhetorical tools to illustrate his viewpoint and convince his

audience.
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Works Cited

Abdurraqib, Hanif. “The Weeknd and The Future of Loveless Sex.” ​They Can’t Kill Us Until

They Kill Us​, Two Dollar Radio, 2017, pg.40-46