KAYTRAMINE - Kaytranada & Amine: Review
is a new collaborative project from producer KAYTRANADA who garnered massive critical acclaim for his electronica meets psychedelic debut album 99.9% in 2016. and Amine a Portland rapper whose smooth flows and charismatic delivery have been charming fans since around the same time.
Review by Lav:
To me, this album was a slam dunk. On top of loving the lead single, it also set me up with expectations that KAYTRAMINE would be a collection of endlessly summery hip-house bops from Kay and Amine. While the actual album itself certainly isn't bad, it doesn't achieve the measure of consistency I was hoping for nor the specific style I anticipated.
In the album's defense, it does get off to a pretty strong start. Alongside the lead single 4EVA is a strong opening song in Who He Iz and a harder-hitting banger than I was anticipating in Westside. letstalkaboutit is pretty much exactly what I was hoping for from the album with a glistening sunny vibe in the instrumental and stacks of catchy refrains and flows one after another. Even the Freddie Gibbs feature which feels like it wouldn't fit in is very solid and makes for a great track. Master P has been the song everyone is talking about on the record and it's easy to see why. Amine and Big Sean both bring their A-game and it's an exciting, hooky song right around the album's midpoint.
Unfortunately, the album's second half is far more inconsistent though not completely without its highlights. UGH UGH is a hot and heavy song that makes pretty good use of Amine's focus on a particular subject and whose refrain doesn't get nearly as annoying as I thought it might. I'm also fond of the closing track K&A which serves as a victory lap of course to the entire album. It takes some time to work up to those expectations but by the time Amine really goes in on the second verse and the song totally shifts into its second half it's settled.
STFU3 is fine enough even if it feels like they just decided not to write a proper end to the chorus. The beat is a bit stiff but it isn't the worst song of the bunch. I was looking forward to EYE because I felt like Snoop could make a great contribution to the album but ultimately it's just an okay part of a just okay song.
Rebuke was released as a single even though it isn't even two minutes long. It isn't necessarily a bad song but its sentimentality and instrumental malaise sort of saps the energy out of the record. Sossaup is another weird moment in the tracklist that isn't nearly as catchy as everyone involved seems to think it is. In fact, I would argue both the hook and beat can be kind of annoying. There are some hilarious lyrics on the track but that's really all it offers.
This album is decent and has a handful of songs that are definitely going to stick in my rotation all summer. But for a record whose very concept feels like it has so much potential the mixed bag of content here does feel like a letdown. Mostly what is disappointing me and many other fans is what could have been given how great these two are individually and how much sense a collaboration between them made. But ultimately this is an alright album that's far more forgettable than I would have ever predicted. 6/10
For more hip hop check out my review of Danny Brown & JPEGMAFIA's Scaring The Hoes
