KayTranada & Amine - KAYTRAMINE ALBUM REVIEW
This is the first collab album between prolific Canadian Hip Hop & Dance producer KayTranada and Oregon hip hop staple Amine.
This album had to be my most anticipated release of 2023 so far, it has been a slow first half of the year but this was one I was really excited about. KayTranada has recently dropped a collab with an artist that at least exists in a similar lane to Amine, IDK, and it was absolutely fantastic and landed on my year-end list for albums of the year. That project still gets loads of replay value to this day and its 18 minute run time gives it unlimited replay value. I also love Amine and have for a long time, I believe Limbo is one of the better albums of the 2020s decade so far and TWOPOINTFIVE is also a fantastic, quirky little mixtape. This all set the album up for a hit in my eyes.
The point of replay value also applies here, the 33 minute runtime is great and when you get familiar with the album and start finding the songs you’d rather just skip then you get through it even faster. That is a point I must make as well, this album is not perfect and dependent on your personal preference you may not click with this album at all. I definitely clicked with it though and outside of a couple of mediocre moments, this thing really hits.
Who He Iz is a great intro, the bassy, hip-house beat is great and the flow from Amine is absolutely flawless, which I’ll talk a little bit about here. I think the overreaction to the shallow topical focus from Amine is ridiculous, as the goal of this album, from Amine’s own words, was to be the ‘Sound of the summer’. Do you want lyrical moments like Becky and Mama from Limbo to be on a summer record? No. I think the main thing that the vocals can be praised for is just how wavy and chill the flows are, every track is performed fantastically and it really does give you that sunny afternoon, back garden chill vibe. That applies to literally every track here so that’s the extent of that analysis. letstalkaboutit is stolen by an absolutely amazing Freddie Gibbs feature. You’re getting a similar vibe on the instrumental here to the intro but it changes up pretty drastically on the next track, 4EVA. This track is pure House bliss, except a lot of House music is delivered from a lowkey, dark, moody place whereas this track is so summery and upbeat, It’s such a refreshing listen in terms of dance music. The yelpy vocals from Pharrell Williams on the hook are great and catchy and Amine does a really good job on the verses too. Westside is a switch up once again, this track is just a straightforward hip hop song, and a really good one at that. You get this really memorable classical violin that keeps chopping and changing with this really unpredictable bass hits. It’s one of the most interesting beats on the whole record. Master P is pretty similar, It’s a little bit more predictable which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, the looped reverse sample is great, the refrain is memorable and Big Sean pops up with the best feature he’s had for literally years. Flow switch ups, smart bars, great presence on the mic. Must listen imo. Rebuke is a silky smooth R&B cut with a really impressive vocal performance from Amine actually. It’s a shame this one is followed up by a track that is actually terrible on the vocal end, not necessarily from Amine however this may be the only track where the melody kind of annoys me. What makes this song an instant skip for me is this Amaarae feature though. Her voice is incredibly frustrating to listen to, it actually gets unbearable about 20 seconds into the feature. I just can’t do it. All the best to her though I suppose. STFU3 is a decent moment, I think the beat is really interesting and uniquely KayTranada. Amine is ok on the flow end, like I said earlier he’s really chill on the mic which is a good vibe but not mind blowing. The Rachel Nichols bar was really good though, basketball fans got that one. UGH UGH is so annoying, the hook is really boring and redundant, stop moaning mate you’re a 29 year old man. It also comes off rushed and phoned in. Not my vibe. However, EYE is really fun mainly because of a really great Snoop Dogg appearance which has him showing off a new flow that I don’t think I’ve ever heard him use. Trust me, in 2023 this is incredibly exciting and rare. K&A is a drawn out but also fleshed out outro with a nice beat switch and the most aggressive and assertive performances from Amine on the whole record. I’m thankful that this track actually feels like an outro with the fadeout as well as a last stand statement type of verse from Amine on the back end. This record deserved a proper send off.
Overall, I was absolutely delighted with what these 2 gave us, it’s already gotten plenty of replays from me and will only get more as the summer goes on, it really does fit the vibe so well. Most of the features are great, Amine consistently delivers a fun verse or 2 on these tracks and KayTray never disappoints on the production front. I hope we see more producer-rapper collabs, to name a few we need the JID & Future collabs with Metro Boomin and we NEED another Alchemist and Conway record. These collabs tend to get the best out of the rappers.
I’m Feeling a Strong 7.