Kaytranada: king of the beats

‘Bubba’ netted Kaytranada two prestigious Grammy awards in 2021: one for Best Dance Recording (for ‘10%’), and the other for Best Dance/Electronic Album (for ‘Bubba’). He was the first Black and openly gay artist to win in these categories. As the event occurred in March 2021, pandemic restrictions were still enforced, and the awards took place virtually. Still, Kay remembers being bowled over by the experience. “I didn’t expect to win, ’cause there was such a crazy list of nominees, like Disclosure, Baauer, Diplo I think was in it,” he says. “It was a list of all giants in one nomination. It was like, ‘What the hell? This can’t be real life.’ It felt amazing, something unexplainable.”

Around the same time, he moved to Los Angeles. Partly, it was to escape being recognised constantly, which he found uncomfortable in Montreal, as LA had famous people by the dozen. Also, it was to be closer to the beating heart of the music industry. “In terms of my musical career, it was the best thing I could have done. As a musician to be taken seriously, that’s what I had to do.” In 2023, he released ‘Kaytraminé’, an album-length collab with rapper Aminé, which had another Pharrell featuring track, ‘4EVA’, a song that Kay says drew some influences from the Haitian genre he’d hear growing up — compas.

Though a more overtly hip-hop project than Kaytranada’s solo material, there was plenty of experimentation too, with the samba rhythms of ‘Sossaup’ and synthwave touches of ‘EYE’ with Snoop Dogg proving that every album is an opportunity for him to try fresh ideas. Kay claims there’s plenty of unreleased material in the archives that is more experimental still. There’s other genres he wants to try, but he wants to make sure he gives 100% and masters a style before revealing it to the public. “I always was experimental, I always wanted to try new things. There’s a lot of unreleased stuff that I’m like… maybe people aren’t gonna like it, ’cause it’s so different. Amapiano stuff, stuff like that.”