The debut album from the collab of Kaytranada & Aminé more than lives up to the hype + new records from Alex Lahey, The Murlocs, Sufjan Stevens and more.
KAYTRAMINÉ seems like it was an inevitably. The collab & portmanteau of beloved producer & MC’s respectively Kaytranada & Aminé may have only debuted their first single last month, but they’ve been working together in one way or another for nearly a decade now. We got our first taste of this potential dream pairing back in 2014 Aminé flipped Kaytra’s At All into Not At All, while a year later on Aminé’s 2015 mixtape Calling Brio, Kaytra contributed a few beats.
Now the time is right for these two acclaimed artists in their own rights to drop their debut, self-titled album that sees the pair’s styles and sounds perfectly compliment each other rather than competing, which is also a testament to their individual diversity and versatility. Across 11 cuts, Kaytra delivers everything from broken beat to tropical house and dark trap to jazzy boom bap. Meanwhile, Aminé matches his lyrical flow and energy accordingly, with rapid fire rhymes sitting comfortably alongside r&b-style crooning.
While there’s no doubt the pair could have pulled off a dope debut full-length alone, the record features some very high profile features, all of which more than deliver. Freddie Gibbs, Pharrell Williams, Big Sean, Amaarae and Snoop Dogg all jump on a track each, resulting in a nice almost 50/50 split between features and KAYTRAMINÉ doing their thing own their own.
What’s sure to be one of the funnest danceable hip hop records of the year, we can only hope for a KAYTRAMINÉ world tour to be announced soon… and hopefully a dope follow-up album in future.
Alex Lahey - The Answer Is Always Yes [Liberation Records] AUS
Don't miss a beat with our FREE daily newsletter
Bad//Dreems - HOO HA! [Farmer & The Owl] AUS
Great Gable - Read The Room [Rainbow Valley Records] AUS
Hannah Jadagu - Aperture [Sub Pop] USA
Mandy, Indiana - i've seen a way [Fire Talk] ENG
Sufjan Stevens - Reflections [Asthmatic Kitty Records] USA
Temps - PARTY GATOR PURGATORY [Asthmatic Kitty Records] ENG
The Murlocs - Calm Ya Farm [Uncle Murl] AUS
Tinariwen - Amatssou [Wedge] ALG/MAL