Louis Kevin Celestin (born August 25, 1992), known professionally as Kaytranada (stylized as KAYTRANADA, shortened as KAYTRA), is a Haitian-Canadian record producer and DJ. Celestin rose to prominence after releasing a series of mixtapes, remixes, and original music projects beginning in 2010 under the alias Kaytradamus. By 2013, and under the moniker Kaytranada, he began gaining wider recognition and, the following year, signed a deal with

XL Recordings XL Recordings is a British independent record label founded in 1989 by Tim Palmer and Nick Halkes. It has been ran and co-owned by Richard Russell since 1996. It forms part of the Beggars Group. Although only releasing an average of six alb ...

, with whom he would release his critically acclaimed debut studio album ''

99.9% ''99.9%'' is the debut studio album by Canadian electronic music producer Kaytranada, released May 6, 2016, through XL Recordings worldwide and Ultra Records in Canada. The 15-track album features guest contributions from by , Vic Mensa, Little ...

'' in 2016. In 2019, he released its follow-up, ''

Bubba In American usage, "Bubba" is a term of endearment mainly given to boys. Being formed from the word "brother", it often indicates that someone is a "little brother". Etymology and history The linguist Ian Hancock has described similarities betw ...

'', for which he won two

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

s including

Best Dance/Electronic Album The Grammy Award for Best Dance/Electronic Album is an award presented at the Grammy Awards — a ceremony that was established in 1958 — to recording artists for quality albums in the dance music and electronica genres. Honors in several categ ...

. Celestin is one half of the hip hop duo

The Celestics The Celestics are a Canadian hip hop duo from Montreal. Formed in 2011, the duo is composed of two brothers, rapper Lou Phelps and producer/DJ Kaytranada. Their debut studio project, titled ''Massively Massive'', was independently released in ...

, along with his brother

Lou Phelps Louis-Philippe Celestin (born August 30, 1994), better known by his stage name Lou Phelps, is a Haitian-Canadian rapper and producer from Saint-Hubert, Quebec. He is a member of the Canadian hip hop duo The Celestics alongside his brother Kaytr ...

Early life

Kaytranada was born Louis Kevin Celestin on August 25, 1992, in

Port-au-Prince Port-au-Prince ( , ; ht, Pòtoprens ) is the capital and most populous city of Haiti. The city's population was estimated at 987,311 in 2015 with the metropolitan area estimated at a population of 2,618,894. The metropolitan area is define ...

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and s ...

. Shortly after he was born, his family relocated to Saint-Hubert near

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-pe ...

where he was raised, and where he began his music career. Kaytranada's father was employed as a taxi driver and an estate agent, and his mother worked in healthcare. His parents divorced when he was 14. That same year, Kaytranada began to produce his own music after his brother

introduced him to

FL Studio FL Studio (previously known as FruityLoops before 2003) is a digital audio workstation (DAW) developed by the Belgian company Image-Line. FL Studio features a graphical user interface with a pattern-based music sequencer. The program is availa ...

. The first song he ever sampled was Earth Wind & Fire's

September September is the ninth month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars, the third of four months to have a length of 30 days, and the fourth of five months to have a length of fewer than 31 days. September in the Northern H ...

, at 15 years old. Kaytranada ended up dropping out of high school to pursue music full-time to help support his family financially. In an April 2016 article with ''

The Fader ''The Fader'' (stylized as ''FADER'') is a magazine based in New York City that was launched in 1999 by Rob Stone and Jon Cohen. The magazine covers music, style and culture. It was the first print publication to be released on iTunes. It is ow ...

'', Kaytranada disclosed that he was gay and discussed his anxiety about coming out to his family. Later in May of that same year, during an interview with

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the G ...

, he further opened up about mental health struggles brought on by his sexuality, which he said contributed to an identity crisis.

Career

Celestin began his career under the name Kaytradamus in 2010. He released two projects as Kaytradamus before changing his name to Kaytranada in 2012. Kaytranada was on the roster of HW&W Recordings, an independent label based in Los Angeles and Toronto. Kaytranada has released 13 projects and 41 remixes. He has toured more than 50 Canadian, American, European and Australian cities. In December 2014, he signed an exclusive recording agreement with

. During 2015, Kaytranada opened for two nights of

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...

Rebel Heart Tour The Rebel Heart Tour was the tenth concert tour by American singer Madonna, staged in support of her thirteenth studio album, '' Rebel Heart'' (2015). Comprising 82 shows, the tour visited North America, Asia, Europe and Oceania. It began on ...

, one in Canada and one in the United States. Speculation arose that Kaytranada and producer

Rick Rubin Frederick Jay Rubin (; born March 10, 1963) is an American record producer. He is the co-founder (alongside Russell Simmons) of Def Jam Recordings, founder of American Recordings, and former co-president of Columbia Records. Rubin helped popul ...

had started working together when a photo of them surfaced online around February 2015. It was later confirmed that they had formed a partnership backed by Pulse Recordings. His debut album, ''

'', was released on May 6, 2016. The album includes features from

GoldLink D'Anthony William Carlos (born May 17, 1993), better known by his stage name GoldLink, is an American rapper and singer. In 2014, he released his debut mixtape, ''The God Complex'', which received critical acclaim. In June 2015, GoldLink was cho ...

AlunaGeorge AlunaGeorge are an English electronic music duo from London, consisting of singer-songwriter Aluna Francis and producer George Reid. Career 2009: Formation The duo first met in June 2009, when Reid remixed Francis' band My Toys Like Me's tra ...

, Syd,

Anderson .Paak Brandon Paak Anderson (born February 8, 1986), better known by his stage name Anderson .Paak (), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and drummer. He released his debut mixtape, ''O.B.E. Vol. 1,'' in 2012 and went on to rel ...

, and

Vic Mensa Vic (; es, Vic or Pancracio Celdrán (2004). Diccionario de topónimos españoles y sus gentilicios (5ª edición). Madrid: Espasa Calpe. p. 843. ISBN 978-84-670-3054-9. «Vic o Vich (viquense, vigitano, vigatán, ausense, ausetano, ausonense) ...

, among others. He also collaborated with

Craig David Craig Ashley David (born 5 May 1981) is a British singer and songwriter who rose to fame in 1999, featuring on the single " Re-Rewind" by Artful Dodger. David's debut studio album, '' Born to Do It'', was released in 2000, after which he has re ...

on the song "Got It Good", which is on David's sixth studio album, ''

Following My Intuition ''Following My Intuition'' is the sixth studio album by English singer Craig David. The album was released on 30 September 2016 by Insanity Records and Sony Music and features the likes of Big Narstie, Blonde, Sigala, Hardwell and Kaytranada. It ...

''. Kaytranada won the

2016 Polaris Music Prize The 2016 edition of the Canadian Polaris Music Prize was presented on September 19, 2016 at The Carlu event theatre in Toronto, Ontario.99.9% ''99.9%'' is the debut studio album by Canadian electronic music producer Kaytranada, released May 6, 2016, through XL Recordings worldwide and Ultra Records in Canada. The 15-track album features guest contributions from by , Vic Mensa, Little ...

''. The album received a score of 8.0 from Pitchfork. On December 13, 2019, his second album, ''

'', was released on RCA Records. It received a score of 8.1 from Pitchfork. On March 14, 2021 Kaytranada won a Grammy for Best Dance Recording for '10%' and Best Dance/Electronic Album for 'Bubba'. On October 13, 2022, it was leaked on Apple Music that Kaytranada would feature on 2 songs, I’m Lying and High Grade, of Lancey Foux’s album LIFE IN HELL, which would release on October 28th, 2022.

Discography

Since 2010, Kaytranada has released two studio albums, two studio EPs, numerous singles, and at least a dozen beat tapes. He is also a prolific remix artist and has released a series of collaborative projects with

and

Robert Glasper Robert Andre Glasper (born April 6, 1978) is an American pianist, record producer, songwriter, and musical arranger with a career that bridges several different musical and artistic genres, mostly centered on jazz. To date, Glasper has won fou ...

, among others.

Studio albums

* ''

'' (2016) * ''

'' (2019)

Production discography

Awards and nominations

References

External links

Official websiteKaytranada on SpotifyKaytranada on Apple Music
{{Authority control 1992 births Living people LGBT people from Haiti Canadian electronic musicians Canadian house musicians Canadian experimental musicians Canadian Internet celebrities Black Canadian musicians Canadian gay musicians Grammy Award winners XL Recordings artists RCA Records artists Musicians from Montreal Haitian emigrants to Canada People from Port-au-Prince Canadian DJs LGBT DJs LGBT hip hop musicians Polaris Music Prize winners Juno Award for Electronic Album of the Year winners Canadian hip hop DJs Black Canadian LGBT people Electronic dance music DJs LGBT record producers Canadian hip hop record producers People from Longueuil Juno Award for Dance Recording of the Year winners 20th-century LGBT people 21st-century LGBT people