Is KAYTRAMINÉ the Album of the Summer?

You know the drill: the weather is getting warmer, jeans are becoming jorts, we’re texting our friends with pools, and duh, dance music is blasting. Like allll the time.

Just in time for the season, Canadian producer Kaytranada and Ethiopian-American rapper Aminé have delivered a fresh new dance album - ripe with flavor and artistic flair. This iconic pairing was nearly 10 years in the making, born when Kaytra remixed a then up-and-coming Aminé’s track “Not At All” and published it on Soundcloud. This led to the duo joining forces on three songs for Aminé’s 2015 mixtape Calling Brio. Both Kaytra and Aminé have continued to celebrate individual wins; Kaytra’s sophomore album Bubba snagged a grammy for best dance/electronic album in 2021, the same year that Aminé dropped his commercially successful project TWOPOINTFIVE. In late 2021, the pair rented a house in Malibu together and began concocting the magic that would become KAYTRAMINÉ.

Atmospheric, lush, and funky, KAYTRAMINĖ evokes hot and humid nights, tightly packed nightclubs, and Mai Tais on the beach. Effervescing with life and energy, the hip-hop duo have dexterously crafted a club album emblematic of both the past and future of dance music.

Reverberated afrobeats dance with R&B-style vocals and a few surprise synths to shape the duo’s unique sound. The punchy, sub-three minute tracks carry confidence in each bar. Aminé’s signature cheeky lyricism and effortless flow marry perfectly with Kaytra’s polished production. Guests like Freddie Gibbs, Big Sean, Pharell and Snoop Dogg bring a fresh, modern perspective to their respective tracks.

The album kicks off with the scintillating “Who He Iz”, which the duo originally debuted at their Coachella 2023 performance. We hear a heavy bass beat paired with interpolated laughter from Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five’s “The Message,” creating a playful and multi-layered track. “Westside” conjures old-school West Coast hip-hop while fusing contemporary production techniques like heavy parallel drum compression and gated snares. “EYE” is synth-filled and lavishly layered, providing the perfect soundscape for Snoop Dogg’s classic raspy rhymes.

So, is KAYTRAMINĖ the album of the summer? If you love genre-bending lavish sounds, clever nods to old-school hip-hop, and expert production technique, then you truly need not look any further. May the duo Kaytraminé live on, and may all your summer gatherings be blessed by their sound.