KAYTRANADA – BUBBA (2019)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 50:35 minutes | 575 MB | Genre: Electronic
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © KAYTRANADA – RCA Records
It’s been three and a half years since the Haiti-born and Montreal-based dance producer Kaytranada released 99.9%, his lush, bubbly, and guest-heavy debut album. In the time since then, Kaytranada has released plenty of one-off singles and collaborations, but he hasn’t shown any interest in making another LP. 99.9% proved conclusively that Kaytranada’s whole style could work brilliantly at album length, so it’s great to learn that he’s got another new full-length coming out. We won’t have to wait long for it.
This Friday, Kaytranada will release his sophomore album BUBBA. Kaytranada announced the album by playing Amazon’s Intersect Festival in Las Vegas this past weekend. Today, we get the confirmation. The new album, like 99.9%, will feature plenty of collaborations. This time around, Kaytranada will feature songs with guests like Pharrell Williams, Tinashe, GoldLink, Estelle, Mick Jenkins, and Teedra Moses. And on the first single, he teams up with the great young R&B singer Kali Uchis.
On “10%,” Kaytranada supplies a percolating, organic house track. It’s full of rippling congas and ’80s synth-funk bleeps, but they’re welded to a huge bassline and an absolutely merciless thump of a beat. Over that beat, Kali Uchis breathes softly about lost love.
In 2016, Louis Kevin Celestin, aka Kaytranada, stepped out from behind the sound booth to make his debut solo album, a bold move considering albums made by beatmakers can often become clunky collages of disparate singles with no real artistic unity. Not the case for the excellent 99.9%, for which the Quebecer with Haitian origins joined forces with Craig David, BadBadNotGood, Phonte, Syd from The Internet, Anderson .Paak, AlunaGeorge, GoldLink, Vic Mensa, Karriem Riggins and the Swedes from Little Dragon. Three years later, and his second album also brings out the big guns, this time featuring Kali Uchis, Pharrell Williams, Tinashe, Mick Jenkins, Charlotte Day Wilson, Estelle, GoldLink, SiR, Iman Omari, Masego, VanJess, Eight9Fly, Ari PenSmith, Durand Bernarr, and Teedra Moses. Once again, the eclectic nature of the varying styles and voices on the album never stop Kaytranada from taking the lead. Bubba has the allure of a groove mixtape centred around a core of house and soul, all while touching on a plethora of other styles along the way (indie R&B, smooth hip-hop, chillwave, funky pop, light downtempo). The Canadian, like many of his counterparts of the same generation, consistently manages to deliver an unstoppable and individual beat that allows the featured vocals to blend in perfectly with it. This technique is best exemplified on 10% with Kali Uchis, a banger that exhibits the power of a catchy melody without having to reinvent the wheel. Addictive. – Marc Zisman
Tracklist:
1. DO IT (02:12)
2. 2 The Music (feat. Iman Omari) (03:55)
3. Go DJ (feat. SiR) (02:36)
4. Gray Area (feat. Mick Jenkins) (02:19)
5. Puff Lah (01:53)
6. 10% (feat. Kali Uchis) (03:06)
7. Need It (feat. Masego) (02:17)
8. Taste (feat. VanJess) (03:37)
9. Oh No (feat. Estelle) (02:47)
10. What You Need (feat. Charlotte Day Wilson) (03:03)
11. Vex Oh (feat. GoldLink, Eight9FLY, & Ari PenSmith) (02:42)
12. Scared To Death (02:33)
13. Freefall (feat. Durand Bernarr) (03:01)
14. Culture (feat. Teedra Moses) (04:08)
15. The Worst In Me (feat. Tinashe) (03:46)
16. September 21 (01:51)
17. Midsection (feat. Pharrell Williams) (04:49)
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