'AIN'T NO DAMN WAY!': KAYTRANADA's Return to Form
Revelling in his dance music roots and retro-futuristic production style on the fluid 12-track listen.
Summary
- Following its surprise announcement earlier this week, KAYTRANADA has dropped AIN’T NO DAMN WAY!
- The Timeless successor sees the producer harken back to his electronic, dancey days, taking the shape of a mostly instrumental offering
- Lead single “SPACE INVADER” finds a spot on the tracklist, along with other titles inclduing “
As of late, KAYTRANADA‘s sonics have taken a flurry of different forms. On his most recent album, last year’s acclaimed Timeless, the multitalented musician focused intently on the R&B influences on his artistry, while before that, on Grammy-winning Bubba, he took an entirely different approach to the the project’s production, fostering an in-person, in-real-time collaborative process for each track, connecting with every featured artist in the studio. But if you asked Kay himself, his most authentic, stripped-down form is an electronic music producer, with roots enshrouded in the dancefloor but an influence that has extended far beyond the confines of the genre.
KAYTRANADA’s new album is all about harkening back to these roots, a collection of club-ready cuts that channel the dancey early-career sound he championed. Entitled AIN’T NO DAMN WAY!, the album signals a return to form, dripping with dancefloor-driven production and ridden with retro flair. Fluid in its 12-track structure, each cut blends effortlessly into the next like one long live set, breathing a refreshing new life into a nostalgic curation of ’90s samples and subgenres.
Predominantly an instrumental project, the spotlight shines not on creative collaborations or lyricism, but on Kay’s sleek production and sampling tactics.
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“Letting y’all know that this album is strictly for workouts, dancing, and studying, and for my people that love beats,” he wrote in an Instagram story earlier this week.
The first single on the tracklist is “SPACE INVADER,” the album’s sole pre-release single that kicks off AIN’T NO DAMN WAY!, a cohesive and immersive listen all the way through to the closing track, “DO IT! (AGAIN!)” which features none other than TLC.
1. SPACE INVADER
2. CHAMPIONSHIP
3. HOME
4. TARGET JOINT
5. THINGS
6. backstABS
7. GOOD LUCK
8. SHINE YOUR LIGHT FOR WE
9. GOODBYE BITCH!
10. DON’T WORRY BABY/I GOT U BABE
11. BLAX
12. DO IT! (AGAIN!) – feat. TLC
After its surprise reveal on Monday, AIN’T NO DAMN WAY! arrives shortly after the producer announced an already mostly sold-out slate of co-headlining North American tour dates with Justice.
Stream AIN’T NO DAMN WAY, out on all streaming services now.
