"Belong to the World" is a song by Canadian singer

the Weeknd Abel Makkonen Tesfaye (born February 16, 1990), known professionally as the Weeknd, is a Canadian singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor. Known for his sonic versatility and dark lyricism, his music explores escapism, romance, and ...

from his debut studio album ''

Kiss Land ''Kiss Land'' is the debut studio album by Canadian singer the Weeknd. It was released on September 10, 2013, through XO and Republic Records. The album was supported by six singles: " Kiss Land", "Belong to the World", "Love in the Sky", " Live ...

'' (2013). The song was released as the album's second single on July 16, 2013.

Background and lyrics

On July 6, 2013, the Weeknd unveiled "Belong to the World" to the general public at the

Mod Club Theatre The Mod Club Theatre (commonly called Mod Club) was an entertainment venue in Toronto that operated from 2002 to 2020. Its address was 722 College Street, which is in the city's Little Italy neighbourhood. Founded by Platinum Blonde frontman Ma ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

, Canada. The song's lyrics revolve around falling in love with the wrong person and are about a serious relationship that the Weeknd once had.

Music video

The music video for "Belong to the World" was first released on July 15, 2013, via MTV. It was later uploaded to the Weeknd's

Vevo Vevo ( , an abbreviation for "Video Evolution", stylized as VEVO until 2013) is an American multinational video hosting service, best known for providing music videos to YouTube. The service is also available as an app on selected smart TVs, ...

account on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

the day following on July 16, 2013. The video is set in Japan and was directed by Anthony Mandler. It has so far been viewed over 20 million times.

Controversy

The song gained some controversy due to

Geoff Barrow Geoffrey Paul Barrow (born 9 December 1971) is an English music producer, composer, and DJ. He is a member of the bands Portishead, Beak and supergroup Quakers, and has scored several films. Portishead—formed in 1991—was named after the s ...

of Portishead accusing the Weeknd of allegedly sampling the drums used in their song "

Machine Gun A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles) ar ...

" without their permission. The Weeknd would later deny the accusations and no lawsuits came as a result of the contest.

Charts

Release history

References

{{authority control 2013 singles 2013 songs The Weeknd songs Songs written by the Weeknd Republic Records singles Songs written by DaHeala Songs written by Belly (rapper) Song recordings produced by the Weeknd Dubstep songs Canadian synth-pop songs Sampling controversies