KAYTRANADA & Aminé — KAYTRAMINÉ — Album Review
Dance | Hip-Hop
Listen on Spotify | Listen on Apple Music
Ever since I discovered the Haitian-Canadian producer known as KAYTRANADA, through his sophomore studio album Bubba at the end of 2019, I was very excited to see where he would venture next in his discography. Of course we had the release of an EP, and some great feature appearances here and there, it would be the summer of 2023 that marks the release of a brand new full-length project.
And by all means, the summer felt like a truly ripe time for KAYTRANADA to bless us once more with his soulfully warm and danceable bits, with a bit of hip-hop edge to spice things up. However, he wasn’t alone this time around.
Enlisting the help of Aminé, an american rapper, singer, and songwriter who I do recall listening to with the help of a few guest features of his own, the two give rise to the project that combines both their names, and both their styles. Enter; KAYTRAMINÉ.
On top of being the album’s title, KAYTRAMINÉ is also the name given to the collaboration between these two in an artist’s sense as well. With that said, one could argue that this is a debut, self-titled project of sorts.
The mission seemed pretty clear with this album from the very get-go. And that was, of course to be the summer album on everyone’s lips. And for a good chunk of this album, it certainly delivers on those summer vibes. I do have to give KAYTRAMINÉ credit for really polishing out a clear and understandable aesthetic.
However, while the album sounded like a done deal on paper, there is one glaring thing that admittedly detracted from this album’s overall enjoyment. And that would be just how generic the whole thing sounds.
Lyrically, this album is as baseline as you can really get with a summer album. I am a firm believer that in most cases, you can’t always get by on vibes alone, and KAYTRAMINÉ is a perfect example of this misfortune.
As a result, this album stands as one that I found incredibly hard to review, as the sense of indifference I feel towards the entire thing is astounding.
Of course though, KAYTRAMINÉ does have a fair share of good tunes, along with a cluster of exciting features to boot. But as an overall summer album, this one unfortunately falls short when it comes to one of the most important aspects of a summer album, which would be memorability.
That being said, KAYTRAMINÉ feels more like a fleeting moment than something that listeners will look back on with sentimentality by the time the year becomes anew once more. To put it poetically, this album is like a paddling pool; good for summer, but as shallow as you can get.
By no means is KAYTRAMINÉ a bad album. However, it still falls into that category of being way less memorable than I would’ve hoped. I would still love to see these two collaborate once again, as I feel their dynamic does work. However, I simply hope they stand out more if we ever get a round 2.
Favourite Tracks: letstalkaboutit | EYE | K&A
Least Favourite Tracks: 4EVA | STFU3
CLBN LLC | Kaytranada Music | Venice Music
