hypersongs

Kaytranada

A Montreal producer and DJ born in Haiti, signed to XL Recordings in 2014, whose debut 99.9% (2016) won the Polaris Prize and whose Bubba (2019) won a Grammy, with "Glowed Up" featuring Anderson .Paak among its singles.

Saint-Hubert and SoundCloud

Louis Kevin Celestin was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti on August 25, 1992, and his family moved to Saint-Hubert, near Montreal, shortly afterward. His brother Lou Phelps, with whom he forms the hip hop duo The Celestics, introduced him to FL Studio when he was fourteen. His first sample, at fifteen, was Earth, Wind and Fire's "September", and he left high school to pursue music. He started in 2010 as Kaytradamus, with two projects under that name, and became Kaytranada in 2012.

In 2013 a rework of Janet Jackson's "If" became a hit on SoundCloud. He signed with XL Recordings, announced in May 2014 according to the 99.9% article and December 2014 according to the artist article, and opened two nights of Madonna's Rebel Heart Tour in 2015. Clash reported that his debut took over two years to finish after an earlier album was shelved over issues with a previous label.

The albums

99.9%, released on May 6, 2016, won the 2016 Polaris Music Prize and the 2017 Juno for electronic album of the year. Bubba (RCA, December 13, 2019) won the Grammy for best dance/electronic album, and "10%" with Kali Uchis the Grammy for best dance recording, both awarded on March 14, 2021. He was nominated for best new artist in 2021. He won Junos in 2021 and 2022 for dance recording ("Caution") and in 2023 for rap single ("Twin Flame"). Kaytraminé, with Aminé, came out on May 19, 2023, Timeless on June 7, 2024, and Ain't No Damn Way! on August 15, 2025, after the lead single "Space Invader".

He told Clash in 2016 that he tried to make his music as black as possible, and that making dance music was important to him. Setlist.fm lists 493 setlists, with 2016 the busiest year at 66 shows, and "You're the One" (91), "10%" (88) and "Lite Spots" (84) his most played songs.

Albums

  • 99.9% 2016 · XL Recordings

    His debut album, 15 tracks with guests including Anderson .Paak, Craig David, Syd and Little Dragon.

Songs

  • Glowed Up 99.9% · 2016

    The ninth track on 99.9%, a single featuring Anderson .Paak, released April 7, 2016.

Sources

  1. Kaytranada, Wikipedia
  2. Bubba (album), Wikipedia
  3. 99.9%, Wikipedia
  4. Kaytranada: A Better Normal, Clash (2016-09-23)