May 20, 2016
XL Recordings
2xLP
In 2022 you’d be hard pressed to walk by a radio or browse a Spotify “Top Songs” playlist without hearing something indebted to Kaytranada’s 99.9%. Seemingly everyone from Dua Lipa to The Weeknd has taken either direct or indirect inspiration from the neo-disco, hip-hop, R&B, 90’s house blended cocktail of this album. The sound has become so ubiquitous recently that it can be easy to forget just how startling and fresh this album sounded when it first dropped. Equally startling is how fresh it sounds still and how it has avoided becoming a victim of its own influence. This album works as a time capsule and a breath of fresh air and covers more sonic ground in its hour-long running time than a lot of producers get in their entire careers. You have down-tempo instrumental hip-hop with assists from Kariem Riggins, there’s anthemic indie-dance with Little Dragon and an enduring club-banger with assists from Anderson .Paak long before he was driving around in Cadillacs with Bruno Mars. Whatever you’re looking for, it’s here.