The Weeknd: Producer Jeremy Rose Says He Never Got a Dime or Credit

Before the 'e' had been dropped, the Weeknd wasn't just Canadian sensation Abel Tesfaye's mysterious moniker. It was a 'dark R&B' duo involving him and Canadian producer Jeremy Rose (who says he came up with the name, sans alternate spelling). Speaking to Vice, Rose says he was pushed out of the group by Tesfaye without ever seeing a dime for his work.

It all started when Rose encountered Tesfaye through a few Australian guys he'd met at a poutine spot in Toronto. They were at someone's house when Rose started playing the beat for 'What You Need,' a track that would become one of the Weeknd's earliest hits, and Tesfaye started to free-style on top of it. That's when Rose asked him if he wanted to "work on something," and the rest was (previously untold) history.

"We became pretty good friends, hanging out every day. At first it was working pretty well, but then I don't know if it was a change in his heart or the people around Abel trying to guide him, but he was starting to push for doing club tracks and I didn't really want to [do that]," Rose told Vice.

"He was pushing for some things I didn't want to do, and it got to the point where he wouldn't respect my opinion. He wanted me to produce for him without any of my input. And I was like, 'Well then, what's the point of being a group?' and he was like, 'You can just be my producer,' and I said, 'Are you going to pay me?'

"Then [I realized he was] not going to pay me. That's why I backed out. I was like, 'You can have those three or four tracks, I'll give you the stems, just take 'em, but I don't want to work with you anymore.' I was really congenial about it, but I told him, 'Just make sure that you give me credit,' and that's where things went sour."

Aside from a few early bloggers, Rose wasn't recognized as being the production mastermind behind the original beats of the Weeknd's first three hits, 'What You Need,' 'Loft Music' and 'The Morning.' The songs gained their initial wave of international attention after Drake posted them to his blog and big name publications like The New York Times and Pitchfork picked them up.

"We knew that it was getting around to some of the smaller blogs and stuff, and just as I backed out, Drake threw up the tracks," Rose said. "Then The New York Times article and everything else started blowing up. I was like, 'Fuck.' It started popping off. I sent him an email: 'Remember! Give me credit!'"

But Tesfaye didn't reply. In fact, Rose says he hasn't heard from him since they went their separate ways. Despite this, Rose claims that Drake knows who he is.

"He knows. I heard that he knows I'm around, and I heard through my manager that 40's manager really likes my shit. I hear that from a lot of people, other producers," Rose said.

And still, to the majority of the world, Rose's name would've never rung a bell in association with the act he co-founded.

"Everybody around me knew what was going on and thought it was bullshit," he said. "But I was just trying to take the higher ground because they [Abel and his people] were being bitches about it. I wasn't even going to get into it."

As to whether or not he's been compensated for his contributions, Rose said, "No, not yet. We'll work on it."

Watch the Weeknd's 'What You Need' Video