内容摘要：Workers set hair on mannequins at a factory inside an export processing zone in Mongla, Bangladesh, March 3, 2022. (AP Photo/Mahmud Hossain Opu)

Workers set hair on mannequins at a factory inside an export processing zone in Mongla, Bangladesh, March 3, 2022. (AP Photo/Mahmud Hossain Opu)

She says she’s been standing up for herself since the early days of her career, both as a member of Combs’ “Making the Band 3” group Danity Kane and as a solo artist.“As a Black woman, I had my story in it, and I’ve been very vocal about what that has been,” Richard says. There were moments when she felt like a product more than a human. She says her album “Goldenheart” was a metaphor for her struggles in the industry.

“(It) was about a warrior who felt she was like David and Goliath, this person that has this one little rock trying to fight these massive dragons,” she said. “And that was literally the story and the message that has been through most of my projects.”Now, Richard wants others in the music industry to follow her on this new path of freedom, one where she is in control and creates music as a tool for healing and expression.“I want people to feel like they can speak their truths and do it in whatever way they see they can. I want that change,” she said. “And I hope every woman, queer person, whomever, they feel safe enough to have that comfort to say, ‘I can speak on this. I have that quiet in me to speak on this.’”

Released earlier this month, “Quiet in a World Full of Noise” is Richard’s second album with. The musical duo, who met in 2018 through indie pop musician Kimbra, previously worked on 2022’s “Pigments.”

“We give each other the space to really be ourselves,” said Zahn. “It’s a space that maybe is harder to access if you’re making music that is set out to be more commercial. Neither of us ever thought about that for better or for worse.”

Richard appreciated that Zahn didn’t judge her lyrics as they were building songs: “If anything, he said, ‘Woo, OK, let me play. Let me build around it.’ And that’s what you hope for.”This image released by Lionsgate shows Barry Keoghan as Lee, left, and Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye as Abel in a scene from “Hurry Up Tomorrow.” (Andrew Cooper/Lionsgate via AP)

This image released by Lionsgate shows Barry Keoghan as Lee, left, and Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye as Abel in a scene from “Hurry Up Tomorrow.” (Andrew Cooper/Lionsgate via AP)TESFAYE: Absolutely. I mean I was juggling a million things at the time, you know, and I was on tour, dealing with personal stuff as well. But that’s happened before. I was able to still rely on my super power. You know, I can go on stage and it’s this cathartic experience with the fans. I can shut my world off for an hour and a half, two hours and just lose myself in my performance. And when it got to a point where the lines were blurring, it was affecting my stage performance — people spend a lot of money to come to these shows. They save up for a year, and it got a point where, oh my God, I can’t give them what they want, my voice is failing me. And I knew at that moment, I needed to sit down and figure out what was going on up there. Because it wasn’t a physical injury.

TESFAYE: That kind of helped it.TESFAYE: It’s not even that. I mean, I’ve always been Abel. The Weeknd’s always been a performance. I’m gonna be super hyperbolic here a little bit, but it felt like I had nothing else to say. That’s what it kind of felt like to me. I was on stage and it’s like I’ve said everything I can say as this person, and now it’s time for me to take that next step. And this film was kind of like that guiding light for me.