“Timeless,” the brooding trap collaboration between the Weeknd and Playboi Carti , made its live debut before it was actually completed. According to XO co-founder Amir “Cash” Esmailian, it was backstage at the Weeknd’s “One Night Only” concert in São Paulo that the Canadian artist, aka Abel Tesfaye, said, “Let’s perform the song we worked on today.”

It was a high-profile debut, witnessed by thousands in the stadium and on the livestream. “We knew we had to capitalize,” says Republic’s Marleny Reyes. Afterward, the internet was ablaze with anticipation for a studio version. “For us, it’s always about following Abel’s lead and augmenting his vision,” she says. “Nobody is better at organically building buzz than he is.”

While its arrival was near instantaneous, “Timeless” had been gest

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