Kaytranada Doesn't Blow Me Away, But His Music Pops

I’m not gonna lie, I wouldn’t jump out and call myself a fan of Kaytranada.. but I would call myself one who appreciates him. I feel like people only say they “appreciate” something so they don’t sound like a dick for having a negative opinion. The thing is, I don’t have a negative opinion of Kaytranada at all. I think the music is completely interesting… I also feel like people who say things are “interesting” are people who are too lazy to search themselves to see how they actually feel about something. Once again, I don’t think I fall in that territory.

What might be the issue for me as a listener is that I was expecting to be kicked in the face. That’s a visual I like to reference a lot when listening to music. I imagine a ninja careening towards my face, his foot smashing into my teeth, blood everywhere, permanent retainer lodged into my lower gums, and yet finding myself entranced by this ninja, in awe of his speed and strength. But not all music has to be like that. I think a lot of artists may have spoiled me with their bombastic nature. There are moments of explosion in Kaytranada’s music, but it’s more like distant fireworks in a night sky and less like jumping on a hand grenade. And for that reason, I must say, Kaytranada might have given me one of the best instrumental listening experiences this year with his recent release of "0.001%" 

There are a couple of times where it reminds me of Dilla’s Donuts… Stop… no… nope! I did not say it was as good as Donuts, I did not say that it sounds like Donuts, calm down, put those pitchforks away. I’d rather lick the corner tiles of a dirty shower before letting such blasphemy come out of my mouth. I simply said it “reminds me” of Dilla’s Donuts, and I will tell you how. I’ve been listening to beat tapes here and there this year, and I gotta say, sometimes… like 4 beats in, I kinda wanna play something else… I just get bored. Even though I can objectively say that I appreciate it, or find it interesting… except in these cases it’s because I do have a negative opinion and yes, I am too lazy to give you my reasons why. But with this… this is something different, I don’t get bored, because he keeps hitting me with something new, what came before does not sound like what is playing now, and what plays next doesn’t sound like now either. Aside from that, the music is just good, it doesn’t blow me away, and it doesn’t have to, but the music still sings, it pops… like a nice firecracker, and I gotta thank Kaytranada for giving me something that I like listening to… not just something that I feel obligated to listen to because I appreciate and find him interesting.