Kaytranada: From Soundcloud To Dance Floors Around The World
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Bursting up onto the scene with his SoundCloud extraordinaire to winning two Grammy awards, Kaytranada's journey has been interesting to say the least. He was born in 1992 in Haiti; but shortly after, his parents decided to relocate to Montreal, a city that would later become instrumental in shaping his career.
As a kid, he was exposed to a lot of Haitian music, particularly Kompa. However, he gravitated towards artists like David Guetta, Laurent Wolf, Justice, Daft Punk, and most notably, Madlib. At 15, his younger brother Louis Felipe introduced him to Fruity Loops; later forming a hip-hop duo called The Celestics.
But Kaytranada's desire to create dance music led him to the Piu Piu music scene at ArtBeat Montreal. This became a second home for him, where he uploaded his beats and remixes to SoundCloud, eventually breaking through to wider recognition.
His remix of Janet Jackson's "If" gained immense popularity. However, Kay felt conflicted. When asked about the overwhelming response, he said, "I didn't expect all this love for one remix. I think I made way more amazing stuff than that at the time."
Nevertheless, Kaytranada caught the attention of XL Records. This gave him the opportunity he always wanted: to create an original album. Around the same time, he dropped out of high school and started touring. While he found success touring the world, Kaytranada longed for the chance to create something entirely from scratch.
Kaytranada also struggled with his sexual identity, as he discovered his homosexuality while facing a challenging environment at home, surrounded by friends and family who made homophobic remarks.
Eventually, these conflicting identities became too burdensome, leading him to a moment of self-realization. His debut album, titled "99.9%," released in 2016 carried the weight of accumulated emotions since the success of the Janet Jackson remix.
In 2019, he released his second album titled "BUBBA" representing another milestone in the his career. With features from Pharrell Williams, Tinashe, and Kali Uchis; BUBBA solidified Kaytranada's reputation as a visionary, leaving fans anticipating his future creative endeavors.
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