The Weeknd's album, Trilogy, got him at Number 2 on the top 100 charts just barely outranked by Keith Urban. Slowly, with the help of his managers and "Drake" Graham, Abel took Keith's spot at Number 1. His first album, House of Balloons, was a huge hit and people soon started to call him the 'face' of R&B. Soon after HOB was released, Tesfaye created his own XO label.
http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/indies/5733179/how-the-weeknd-went-from-internet-mystery-to-billboard-200-no-2