He was "vibing out," he says, to new music till 7 a.m. His hair and beard are well cropped, but his eyes are bloodshot and his voice is raspy, like he was up all night. That's where Cash meets me in a black Weeknd tee, black joggers, black socks, and black slip-ons, with a silver No Limit-style necklace hanging the words "Low Life 4 Life" over his shirt, and a red Bic squeezed against the pack of Canadian cigarettes in his hand. Everything is perfectly symmetrical, and I can only guess that any dirt (literal or figurative) is now leaving in trash bags with the cleaning crew walking out of the front door. It's flanked by two gleaming Rolls-Royce Ghosts with Ottawa plates-one black, one white-facing an enormous Buddha statue encircled by a concrete drive. The estate's façade is the opposite of XO's shadowy aesthetic: stately and clean, looking like a sprawling Tudor fused to a tract home scrubbed of all color that isn't white or near-white. Still, when I arrive at Cash's house in the affluent Encino neighborhood of L.A.'s San Fernando Valley, it falls on one humble family member, Raph Mesquita (who has an engineering credit on the Weeknd's Starboy), to stall me while a maid service wraps up inside. "If something spills on the ground, no one's like, 'I'm not gonna pick it up 'cause it's not my job.' Whoever's closest gets it. "There's no job for any guys too big or small," says Cash proudly.
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Plus he keeps a home studio frequented by the likes of French Montana, Metro Boomin, and Travis Scott.
tour of rapper Belly (cosigned to Roc Nation), a menswear collection with H&M, and an official XO sneaker coming via Puma. In 2017, he's a driving force behind the Weeknd's world tour, the release of the debut mixtape of XO singer-producer Nav, the U.S. When he got to Toronto and befriended Tesfaye, he was at various times his personal assistant, road manager, security guard, fitness trainer, and chauffeur. I live, breathe, sleep, eat, shit XO," says Cash, as if that suffices as a job description. But to Cash, XO is very simply "family." As for his official title in the business, he's not the LinkedIn type. Old heads know it stands for ecstasy and Oxycodone. Newcomers think XO signifies hugs and kisses. He's also steering the Weeknd's business/cultural empire, XO, which shape-shifts from record label to fashion mark to clique, all while remaining (like Jay Z's Roc and Drake's OVO) a rallying point for fans eager to broadcast their dedication via hand signs, tattoos, and, presumably, the margins of their class notes. "There's nothing like him," Cash gushes about the man he knows as Abel Tesfaye. Today, the Iran-born, Ottawa-raised Los Angeles resident co-manages the Weeknd. "There were so many Jordans there I wish I could." Cash, now 33, trails off, shaking his head. Well, actually, that part was heartbreaking. His sneaker collection? A small price to pay.
The goal was to get nearer to the guy he says he knew "would change the sound, change the world of music." His plans? He'd figure them out when he got to Canada. Within 24 hours of hearing his first song by the Weeknd, in early 2011, Amir "Cash" Esmailian stuffed whatever he could of his Miami apartment into a single suitcase and moved to Toronto.
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