The Weeknd burst onto the scene with the mixtape House of Balloons.

In a new interview with Variety to promote his latest project, his smash-hit album After Hours, Abel spoke on how influential House of Ballons was -- and how even established superstars like Usher began biting his sound.

‘House of Balloons’ literally changed the sound of pop music before my eyes,” he says without exaggeration. “I heard ‘Climax,’ that [2012] Usher song, and was like, ‘Holy f—, that’s a Weeknd song.’ It was very flattering, and I knew I was doing something right, but I also got angry. But the older I got, I realized it’s a good thing.”

Do you agree that Usher's Climax was faux-Weeknd?