The Weeknd Teases Anitta Collab “São Paulo” With Cryptic Mask Post

The Weeknd is all about the aesthetics. The pop star loves to reinvent his image and his sound from album to album. He’s also highly secretive about his album rollouts, as evidenced by the lack of info that fans have gotten for Hurry Up, Tomorrow. The cryptic rollout continued on October 25, when he posted a photo of Brazilian singer Anitta on his Instagram Story. The photo was striking for several reasons, with the most notable being the fact that Anitta is wearing a white mask.

Anitta posted the photo on her Instagram, which also saw her showcase her pregnant stomach. Moreso than the pregnancy, though, was the fact that she was covering her face with the aforementioned mask. The Weeknd reposted the image on his IG Story with the caption “Congrats @Anitta.” This has led many fans to theorize that “São Paulo,” the song that The Weeknd and Anitta have recorded, will be the next single for Hurry Up, Tomorrow. The song was previewed in September 2024, and was promptly played live during The Weeknd’s Brazilian show.

The Weeknd hyped up the song further during an interview with Billboard Brazil. “Anitta is a great friend,” he explained. “What she sent was so awesome that we created the song. Anitta returned the praise, and shed light on how the collaboration came together. Evidently, she did not think the song would actually get done. “I wrote some verses as a joke and never imagined they would become serious,” she claimed. “Suddenly, I received the finished song. I loved it! I felt very honored and flattered.”

Anitta’s decision to pose with the white mask speaks to the larger aesthetic that The Weeknd is going for on Hurry Up, Tomorrow. The same white mask adorned the cover of the singer’s last single. “Timeless” was a massive success for both The Weeknd and Playboi Carti, but it’s obvious the imagery of a face in a stark, feature-less mask is going to play a role in the narrative that the Canadian singer is going for. What does it mean? We don’t know. But we expect to see it a lot over the next few months.