The Weeknd / Playboi Carti: “Timeless” Track Review

The Weeknd and Playboi Carti are the most popular they’ve ever been, with a combined monthly listener count that’s 257 times the population of Luxembourg. It makes sense they’d drop a joint flex called “Timeless,” in which they moan stock tropes about being so successful they’re eternally famous. What’s surprising is how tasteful the tune sounds, a far cry from the bombastic decadence of Abel Tesfaye’s synth pop and Carti’s flamethrower rage. Seamless and languid, it’s less the lurid stadium supernova you’d expect than a sweet pixelated slink. Call it cosmic lounge music, timeless in the sense that they sound like they’re on vacation in a Milky Way of gold chains and bespoke Rick Owens, unconcerned with the frenzied rush of the present.

Of course, everything about the song is deeply manicured and timely. Six people labored over the beat (among them Pharrell, Ojivolta, and Mike Dean), and it comes right as the Weeknd and Carti are feverishly teasing new albums, Hurry Up Tomorrow and I Am Music. This is the latest in a string of major features for Carti, who’s become something like the Ty Dolla $ign of fried 2020s blockbusters—from the glittery pop of “I LUV IT” to his guttural bursts on “Carnival,” “Fe!n,” and “Type Shit.” Everyone wants a piece of his mystery, a chance to siphon aura points from Carti’s kingdom of cult fans. It’s an especially fitting move for Abel, whose once enigmatic thrill has dissipated as he’s gone global. As timeless as they claim to be, they both seem to know their fame won’t last forever.