The Weeknd Scores Fourth Diamond Certification With ‘Can’t Feel My Face’

The Weeknd’s “Can’t Feel My Face” has officially been certified Diamond. This is The Weeknd’s fourth Diamond single (“The Hills,” “Starboy,” and “Blinding Lights”), making him the third solo artist and fourth artist overall to reach the achievement.

The single is from The Weeknd’s second studio album Beauty Behind the Madness and was his first single to reach No.1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

As Bianca Gracie explains in her feature on the track, “‘Can’t Feel My Face’ may have been the third single picked from Beauty Behind the Madness, but it remains the biggest. Gone was the murky, chilling production from The Weeknd’s mixtape days. For ‘Can’t Feel My Face,’ The Weeknd called upon pop music’s legendary hitmaker Max Martin and Ali Payami (best known for his Grammy-winning work on Taylor Swift’s 1989). The two producers created a bouncy, vibrant melody that drew inspiration from one of The Weeknd’s biggest heroes, Michael Jackson.

“‘He’s everything to me, so you’re going to hear it in my music,’ The Weeknd told the LA Times in 2016. “Off the Wall was the album that inspired me to sing. It helped me find my [voice] … ‘Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough,’ I kept singing that, and I found my falsetto.

“Rather than wanting to escape to the darkest corner of the party like his previous songs suggested, ‘Can’t Feel My Face’ rushes you onto the dancefloor as soon as the beat drops. The lyrics were also a step away from the singer’s previous work. Here, he trades in a yearning to be alone for a desire to never leave his lover’s side. The paraphernalia references still remain (‘I can’t feel my face when I’m with you, but I love it’ is a double entendre that alludes to both the numbing effects of drugs and the constant smiling when seeing your lover), but they’re more subdued for endless radio play.”

Listen to the best of The Weeknd on Apple Music and Spotify.