KAYTRAMINÉ — KAYTRAMINÉ

Producer KAYTRANADA and Portland rapper Amine team up to create an amazing body of work. Released at the right time, as the album is perfect for the Summer.

2023 has provided us with many great collaborative projects, specifically one producer and one rapper collab albums. From the likes of El Michel Affairs and Black Thought’s Glorious Game to Skyzoo and The Other Guy’s The Mind of a Saint. Similarly, Amine and KAYTRANADA have also released a great collaborative project. A great team up, as Amine’s voice and delivery fits perfectly with KAYTRANADA’s warm and laidback production. Throughout the album, both of them compliment each other's style and work.

Perhaps their partnership was written in the stars, whilst on his come up back in 2014, Amine released a freestyle over KAYTRANADA’s “Not At All”. Fast forward almost a decade later, they have released an eleven track LP, that consists of big name features from the likes of Pharrell Williams, Big Sean and Snoop Dogg.

Speaking of the features, the biggest standouts include Freddie Gibbs on “letstalkaboutit” and Snoop Dogg on “EYE”. On “letstalkaboutit” KAYTRANADA samples Jermaine Dupri’s vocals on Clipse’s 2002 track “Let’s Talk About It”. A braggadocious track where both Amine and Freddie rap over a funky smooth instrumental. On “EYE” the duo enlist the help of Snoop Dogg; arguably the best song on the whole album, the song’s vibe reminds me of something that could of have been on Snoop Dogg’s 2004 album Rythm & Gangsta album. From the song’s instrumental to Amine’s smooth vocals on the song’s chorus, “EYE” just puts a smile on your face.

On the other hand, not all features are great on the album, with Amaarae’s guest appearance being unfortunately the worst part of the album. Her high pitch vocals aren’t pleasing on the album’s seventh track, “Sossaup”, in fact her vocals are annoying.

The album consists of some of Amine’s best work, from his rapping to his melodic singing, the Portland rapper has many high moments. This is shown throughout the album on tracks such as “Rebuke” and “K & A”. Whilst Amine shines on this album, huge amounts of credit has to be given to KAYTRANADA. I believe we get to see Amine at his best, because KAYTRANADA’s production brought out the best of Amine. It’s reported that the duo rented a house in Malibu during the creation of the album, and with KAYTRANADA’s production it pretty much sounds like it. Funky, laidback and blissful, the album’s production is incredibly consistent, not one song on the whole album has a terrible instrumental. 

KAYTRAMINÉ is another great collaborative project this year, as mentioned both Amine and KAYTRANADA shine bright both individually and as a collective. The album is a great soundtrack for this summer and deserves all the praise.