Nothing to back this up?
The man literally ushered in a whole new wave of modern R&B (dark, trippy, ambient sound) that HE made popular and blew up off.
He didn't follow any traditional formula and he made his sound POPular music. How many artist in this generation can say that?
Not only that, he can make traditional R&B, his own modern R&B, nikka has better bars than most rappers in this era and he can do Hip Hop/R&B.
House of Balloons became a template that countless singers/rappers tried to follow and replicate the sound/aesthetic. To say The Weeknd is one of the greatest artist of THIS generation is not that far fetched. Who would you be ranking above him in the last decade as influential/impactful artist?