Canadian music stars The Weeknd, Drake and Justin Bieber rule US charts

Canada is truly where the hot guys hail from.

Politician? Yes. Newly-elected Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has got smitten netizens gushing over his good looks.

Music stars? Check.

Justin Bieber and his fellow Canadians, singer and songwriter The Weeknd and rapper Drake, are on fire and collectively ruling the Billboard Hot 100 chart, placing at No. 1, 2 and 3 respectively with The Hills, Hotline Bling and What Do You Mean?.

We look at why the Canadian trio are killing it in 2015 and flying the flag high in the music world.

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DRAKE

Hotline Bling?

I have my eyes on the Hot Fine Thing - I mean Drake - in the buzzed-about movie video for his latest single that has taken the Internet by storm since its release last week.

Netizens got creative and were quick to poke fun at the 29-year-old's dorky dad moves with hilarious memes and mash-up videos of the clip.

But he is having the last laugh: Hotline Bling is No. 2 Stateside.

Before he got busy practising awkward dance steps, the rapper famously made headlines this year for his long-running beef with US rapper Meek Mill.

The 28-year-old US hip hop artist, who is dating US rapper Nicki Minaj, had accused Drake on Twitter in July of having a ghostwriter and not writing his own rap verses.

The bitter battle saw Drake throwing shade by releasing diss tracks Charged Up and Back To Back before Meek Mill hit back with his own song, Wanna Know.

Drake also caught fans off-guard in February when he dropped his mixtape If You're Reading This It's Too Late, Beyonce-style.

It debuted at No. 1 and was the first album this year to shift one million copies in the US.

Last month, he released a collaborative album with fellow rapper Future called What A Time To Be Alive, which also peaked at No. 1 and sold 334,000 albums in the first week alone.

Despite his successes, Drake does not think it comes easy for him, telling US magazine The Fader last month: "It's not like I'm just sitting here, just shooting with my eyes closed. Like, I'm trying. I'm really trying to make music for your life."

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JUSTIN BIEBER

Like it or not, Bieber's back.

The 21-year-old has been on a roll since his comeback performance at the MTV Video Music Awards in August.

He has been heating up the charts with his first Billboard No. 1 hit single, What Do You Mean?, taken off his upcoming album, Purpose.

A follow-up single titled Sorry, released last week, seems to be an earnest apology and attempt at redemption.

Bieber, whose booming career started when he was 16, has single-handedly dragged his name through the mud in the past two years.

His past misdemeanours include driving under the influence and resisting arrest, for which he had to spend a night in jail, picking up girls in brothels and attacking a British paparazzo.

But Bieber seems to want to start afresh and the music world is ready to give him a second chance.

Case in point: Bieber nabbed five trophies at the MTV Europe Music Awards earlier this week, making him the biggest winner of the night.

In an interview with Complex magazine last month, the former bad boy addressed his troubled past and said: "I wouldn't take back anything... I'm not going to say I'm sorry for the things that I've done because I think that it allows me to tell a story.

"If I (entered) the industry at a young age and never had any failures, people would've been like, 'Who is this kid? He's not relatable'.

"Now, I went through my s***, I came out on the other side and I'm going to show you it gets better."

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THE WEEKND

He actually has Drake to thank for giving him a boost in the commercial music business.

The 25-year-old, whose real name is Abel Tesfaye, gave his "closest friend in the industry at that time" some of his songs meant for his own debut mixtape, House Of Balloons (2011), which ended up in Drake's double-platinum 2011 album, Take Care.

The Weeknd said in a recent Rolling Stone interview: "I gave up almost half of my album. It's hard. I will always be thankful. If it wasn't for the light he shined on me, who knows where I'd be. And everything happens for a reason."

His early work featured his signature R&B sound - dark, shrouded in mystery and drenched in imagery of sex and drugs - which has since been diluted with pop sensibilities.

After all, he has teamed up with pop stars Ariana Grande on her song, Love Me Harder (2014), and Sia on Elastic Heart (2013).

The Weeknd delivered his biggest hit to date this year - his third album, Beauty Behind The Madness, topped the Billboard 200 album chart.

It also spawned two No. 1 hits, The Hills and the summer anthem Can't Feel My Face.

Perhaps the biggest sign that The Weeknd has "arrived" is the fact that he is Taylor Swift-approved.

The 25-year-old US pop star even invited him to be a guest star at one of her shows on her 1989 world tour.

Of his funny first encounter with Swift at a Grammys after-party earlier this year, he told Rolling Stone: "The whole time she was talking, she was kind of, like, petting my hair? I think she was just drawn to it. She must have been a little gone off a few drinks. And, of course, I'm not going to be. like, 'Hey, can you stop?' I mean, it felt good! But when she started petting my hair, that's when I was. like, 'I definitely need a drink'."

The Weeknd, who has five nominations for next month's American Music Awards, will perform at the annual Victoria's Secret Fashion Show in December.

Of his successful album and mainstream immersion, he told Time magazine: "I want to make pop cool again and the only way I can do that is by being ambitious and grand."