The Weeknd opens up about 'heavy' drug use while recording early music: 'I can't do this sober'

The Weeknd might be ruling the Billboard 200 at present with his new album Starboy, but his rise to fame seems to have been a rather difficult one. The two-time Grammy winner recently sat down for a tête-à-tête with The Guardian, where he opened up about his early life, music career and "heavy" dependence on drugs to overcome what he calls the "writer's block".

Speaking with the newspaper, the Toronto-born artist revealed much about his teenage life, when he and his friend would spend most of their money on drugs and alcohol. According to reports, the singer admitted to giving in to Ketamine, cocaine, MDMA, mushrooms and cough syrup at the time, especially when he hit the recording studio.

"When I had nothing to do but make music, it was very heavy," he told the newspaper adding, "Drugs were a crutch for me. There were songs on my first record [House of Balloons] that were seven minutes long, rambling — whatever thoughts I was having when I was under the influence at the time."

The 26-year-old R&B singer, who recently broke up with supermodel Bella Hadid, went on to admit that substance use on such level is a thing of the past for him now. But every now and then, the singer – born Abel Makkonen Tesfaye – confessed to turning back to recreational drug usage for inspiration for his music.

"I'll be completely honest with you. The past couple of albums, I do get back to that," he said. "Even on this new album [Starboy]. You have writer's block. And sometimes you're like, 'I can't do this sober.'"

Fan would recall the frequent references made by the Canadian singer in his music, where he often talks about drugs and addiction. "When I'm (messed) up, that's the real me," and "I Can't Feel My Face," are the lines from his 2015 song The Hills, which is suspected to be an allusion to cocaine.

Although, the Weeknd didn't mention his famous romance with the Victoria's Secret model during the interview, but his ex-girlfriend has been quite vocal in the recent past when it comes to gushing about him.

"Thank you @theweeknd for being the best and most incredible performer on the planet. You KILLED it, as always," the 20-year-old model shared via Instagram after a seemingly awkward run-in with the singer at the 2016 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show.