KAYTRAMINÉ, Aminé & KAYTRANADA “KAYTRAMINÉ” Album Review

KAYTRAMINÉ

KAYTRAMINÉ, Aminé & KAYTRANADA

• Genre: Hip-Hop/Rap
• Date: 19 May, 2023
• Content: explicit
• Track(s): 11
• ℗ 2023 CLBN LLC & Kaytranada Music & Publishing, Inc. under exclusive license to Venice Music

KAYTRAMINÉ is the debut album from producer KAYTRANADA and rapper Aminé. The pair offers a wide range of sounds throughout its 33-minute length, emphasizing quality above quantity. These sounds transcend beyond summer music, though there are many of those.

The features are few, but when they do appear, they complement the duo’s soundscape. KAYTRANADA goes beyond the dance/house-inspired sound for which he is well known, and Aminé exhibits a variety of exciting flows that alternate between rapping and singing. KAYTRANADA even contributes ad-libs to a handful of tracks on the album.

Album Cover Art

Living la vida loca, KAYTRANADA and Aminé lounged on pool chairs, living their best lives and showing off their soft lifestyles and glowing skins. KAYTRANADA is shown floating in a pool, holding a burning joint with the laid-back cool that characterizes his production style characterized by beats that ripple in slow motion and synths that explode with sound. Aminé may is seen next to Kaytra, leaning forward, holding a champagne flute, and grinning mischievously. This perfectly captures his dynamic style as an MC.

Tracks and Features

“4EVA,” a bubbly, beat-heavy single with melodic embellishments and co-production by Pharrell Williams, served as the album’s first taster. The song’s production is as colorful, lively, zesty, and vivid as possible. Aminé adopts a cold-hearted attitude that makes him sound like the definition of a heartbreaker. Yet, at the same time, Pharrell decides to get lost in the production and strikes us with these hypnotizing vocals you can hardly hear. Ultimately, this song is all about its contradictory emotions and distinctive energy.

On “Who He Iz,” a smooth beat reminiscent of Busta Rhymes’ “Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See” and smooth laughs from Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five’s “The Message” enter amid airhorns and the appeal to stop loitering around trying to be hip. Wonderful things.

The Freddie Gibbs-starring song “letstalkaboutit,” which has plenty of gems and swagger, carries on the percolating rhythms. The song has an easy-going production style with a short hook. Aminé and special guest Freddie Gibbs deliver the heat as expected. Gibbs seems bold and ludicrous during his entire verse, unlike Aminé, who alternately sounds light, sleepy, lustful, braggadocios, and extra competitive.

On “Eye,” Snoop Dogg is the featured artist with walls of synth and vocals that blend in with the background noises. The West Coast legend raps leisurely on the song about love. On the song “Master P,” which features Big Sean, the beat builds with spiraling drums and distorted voices until picking up cadence and contrasting joyful sonics with lines warning people not to cross them.

Your ears will benefit from the cooling effect of “Rebuke.” Smoother than a Mojito with some flat ginger beer, Aminé’s relaxed vocals and KAYTRANADA’s serene production come together to produce this song. Aminé discusses the contradictory emotions that come with ending a once absolutely perfect relationship.

In “Westside,” Aminé continuously delivers body blows to his rivals over a dramatic, violin-driven production. Additionally, he affirms that he doesn’t roll with his ex for some reason. You can tell that Aminé believes this incredible rapping ability comes naturally to him because he quickly shifts between flows and delivers semi-clever punchlines.

“UGH UGH” departs from the album’s bouncy bounce in favor of a slow roll, head-nodding vibe. This song has a pleasant bottom line that KAYTRANADA added, which headphone listeners would enjoy. Aminé’s hook, built on sound effects, matches dynamic synths.

Tracklist

NO	TITLE	ARTIST
1	Who He Iz	KAYTRAMINÉ, Aminé & KAYTRANADA
2	letstalkaboutit	KAYTRAMINÉ, Aminé, KAYTRANADA & Freddie Gibbs
3	4EVA	KAYTRAMINÉ, Aminé, KAYTRANADA & Pharrell Williams
4	Westside	KAYTRAMINÉ, Aminé & KAYTRANADA
5	Master P	KAYTRAMINÉ, Aminé, KAYTRANADA & Big Sean
6	Rebuke	KAYTRAMINÉ, Aminé & KAYTRANADA
7	Sossaup	KAYTRAMINÉ, Aminé, KAYTRANADA & Amaarae
8	STFU3	KAYTRAMINÉ, Aminé & KAYTRANADA
9	UGH UGH	KAYTRAMINÉ, Aminé & KAYTRANADA
10	EYE	KAYTRAMINÉ, Aminé, KAYTRANADA & Snoop Dogg
11	K&A	KAYTRAMINÉ, Aminé & KAYTRANADA

Album Theme

On the album, KAYTRANADA and Aminé’s long-standing friendship and rich history are on show. Two good friends collaborated to create the collaborative studio effort, which worked. This record might have taken any direction given the artistic talent both of these musicians possessed, but the chill, laid-back course they took feels right. As a result, the project is full of style and made with confidence.

Production Credits

KAYTRANADA and Pharrell Williams are credited for the album’s production.

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