The Weeknd on How "Timeless" With Playboi Carti Came Together

The Weeknd’s Hurry Up Tomorrow album was stacked with A-list features, including everyone from Travis Scott and Florence and the Machine to Lana Del Rey and Future. But one the most talked-about contributions came from Playboi Carti, who assisted the genre-defying banger “Timeless.”

The track was first previewed during The Weeknd’s September 2024 concert in São Paulo, Brazil. It was officially released several weeks later and has since peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and topped the US Rhythmic and US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts.

The Weeknd touched on the record in his February cover story for Complex, where he was asked to share more details on the “Timeless” backstory.

“‘Timeless’ is such a seamless merging of you and Carti’s styles,” Complex pointed out via email. “How did that song come together? What did you learn from collaborating with him?”

The Weeknd only had one thing — or name, rather — to say: “PHARRELL. PHARRELL. PHARRELL.”

He was, of course, referring to Pharrell Williams, who produced “Timeless” alongside Mike Dean, Ojivolta, and Twisco. The hitmaker briefly addressed the song during his October 2024 sit-down with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe, when he reiterated his passion for music-making.

“I love music,” he said. “I just did a record for the Weeknd and Playboi Carti. ‘Timeless.’ Pun intended.”

The song marked the Weeknd’s second collaboration with Carti, following 2023’s “Popular” featuring Madonna.

Elsewhere in his cover story, The Weeknd spoke about Hurry Up Tomorrow’s accompanying film, in which he co-stars alongside Jenna Ortega, Barry Keoghan, Gabby Barrett, Charli D’Amelio.

“Nothing inspires me more than cinema,” he said. “It’s the only art form that requires music, pictures, and writing. It fills my soul more than anything else… The film [Hurry Up Tomorrow] actually inspired the album. It offered me a chance to express a lot that I needed to release, with cinema serving as the ideal medium for exploration. The openness of the film allowed me to delve into these themes freely.