electronic Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic co ...

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 albu ...

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): ...

Little Dragon Little Dragon are a Swedish electronic music band from Gothenburg, Sweden, formed in 1996. The band consists of Yukimi Nagano (vocals, percussion), Erik Bodin (drums), Fredrik Wallin (bass) and Håkan Wirenstrand (keyboards). Little Dragon' ...

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 ...

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 trac ...

BadBadNotGood BadBadNotGood (stylized in all caps) is a Canadian instrumental band and production team from Toronto, Canada. The group was founded in 2010 by bassist Chester Hansen, keyboardist Matthew Tavares, and drummer Alexander Sowinski. In 2016, they w ...

River Tiber The Tiber ( ; it, Tevere ; la, Tiberis) is the third-longest river in Italy and the longest in Central Italy, rising in the Apennine Mountains in Emilia-Romagna and flowing through Tuscany, Umbria, and Lazio, where it is joined by the Riv ...

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.2017 Juno Awards.

Background and promotion

In May 2014, it was announced that Kaytranada had signed a deal with UK-based independent record label

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 albu ...

and planned to release an EP in the summer. During an interview with New York-based music magazine ''

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 o ...

'', the

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- ...

producer disclosed that XL is "one of the labels I always wanted to be on ��It's a good label for people who are sort of lost and are like, 'Let me see what's going on.'" Kaytranada described the untitled EP as " abstract-feeling" and "uptempo,

neo-soul Neo soul (sometimes called progressive soul) is a genre of popular music. As a term, it was coined by music industry entrepreneur Kedar Massenburg during the late 1990s to market and describe a style of music that emerged from soul and contem ...

," and was aiming to "make it as funky as possible." In addition, he confirmed that he had worked with

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): ...

, Karriem Riggins, Reva DeVito, and Shay Lia amongst others. On August 12, 2014, at the announcement of the EP's tentative title, ''So Bad'', a song named "Leave Me Alone", featuring vocalist and fellow Montreal native Shay Lia, was released as the lead single. However, no updates had been provided regarding the EP's release date. As reported on December 15, 2014, Kaytranada expanded his project into a full-length album. On

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dust ...

, he posted a glimpse of his renewed contract with XL, along with the words "ALBUM COMING." Serving as the second single is the

trap A trap is a mechanical device used to capture or restrain an animal for purposes such as hunting, pest control, or ecological research. Trap or TRAP may also refer to: Art and entertainment Films and television * ''Trap'' (2015 film), Fil ...

-influenced "Drive Me Crazy", featuring

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

rapper

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): ...

, released on January 27, 2015. On September 7, 2015, Kaytranada took to

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

to announce the album's official title: ''99.9%''. During

Benji B Benjamin Benstead, known professionally as Benji B, is a British DJ, radio presenter, and record producer. A longtime BBC Radio producer and presenter, he has presented a weekly show on BBC Radio 1 since 2010 that highlights an eclectic mix of h ...

's "Montreal Special" on

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance ...

on March 16, 2016, he shared more details about his long-awaited effort. The producer expounded on the album title, explaining that it reflects his dissatisfaction and indecisiveness when it comes to his musical endeavor. Furthermore, he confirmed that Canadian instrumental band

BadBadNotGood BadBadNotGood (stylized in all caps) is a Canadian instrumental band and production team from Toronto, Canada. The group was founded in 2010 by bassist Chester Hansen, keyboardist Matthew Tavares, and drummer Alexander Sowinski. In 2016, they w ...

and

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's lead vocalist Syd were both recruited as guests contributors. Speaking about BadBadNotGood, he revealed that they recorded about fifteen tracks together, though only two were selected for the album. He also premiered a track from the album titled "Bus Ride" which features drum work from

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

jazz percussionist and producer Karriem Riggins, and

accompaniment Accompaniment is the musical part which provides the rhythmic and/or harmonic support for the melody or main themes of a song or instrumental piece. There are many different styles and types of accompaniment in different genres and styles o ...

from

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multi-instrumentalist and producer River Tiber. On Twitter, he confirmed that the album would be released on May 6. The following day, Kaytranada unveiled via

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and

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dust ...

the artworks and track listing for ''99.9%'', along with short individual

animation Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...

s corresponding to each track. The album's digital version was made available for pre-order ahead of its release on

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mu ...

and

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technolog ...

, while its physical format could be pre-ordered on

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 albu ...

' online store. The physical product comes on a double

12-inch vinyl The twelve-inch single (often written as 12-inch or 12″) is a type of vinyl ( polyvinyl chloride or PVC) gramophone record that has wider groove spacing and shorter playing time with a 'single' or a few related sound tracks on each surfa ...

with a gatefold sleeve, and includes a free CD of the digital album. On April 7, 2016, "Glowed Up", which features on vocals, debuted on

Annie Mac Annie Mac (born 18 July 1978), is an Irish DJ, broadcaster and writer. She hosted a variety of shows on BBC Radio 1, including BBC Switch and ''Future Sounds''. She also DJed in various locations, including hosting her AMP (Annie Mac Presents) ...

's

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance ...

show, with the music video, directed by Bo Mirosseni, premiering soon after. Marc Hogan from

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to ...

gave the song a "Best New Track" designation, stating that "It's a track where two complementary artists sound like they are right where they want to be, and the pleasure is in how they bring us into this world, too". In anticipation of the album's release, an album-themed video game, ''99.9%: The Game'', was launched on Kaytranada's website on April 20, 2016. Designed by artist Ricardo Cavolo, who also worked on the album's artwork, the game is a

side-scroller '' A side-scrolling video game (alternatively side-scroller), is a game viewed from a side-view camera angle where the screen follows the player as they move left or right. The jump from single-screen or flip-screen graphics to scrolling graphic ...

modeled after 2013's popular mobile game '' Flappy Bird''. Players must navigate an airplane through obstacles while collecting items to earn points. Players who attain a high score of over a hundred points will be rewarded with a free download of "Nobody Beats the Kay," a bonus track from the album. On May 10, 2016, a music video for "Lite Spots" was released.

Reception

''99.9%'' received critical acclaim upon its release. At

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, which assigns a normalized score out of 100 to all reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 81, based on a number of 21 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". Both ''Pitchfork'' and ''Spin'' gave the album a rating of 8 out of 10. ''Pitchfork''s Jonah Bromwich wrote, "The genre-defying stew of funk, soul, R&B, and beat and dance music that Kaytranada has cooked up on ''99.9%'' nods back at that heritage of percussion-driven synthesis." At ''

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television ...

'', which gives a rating out of ten stars, the album received an average rating of 6 stars. In his review, Chris Conaton wrote, "Even though aytranadadoesn't do every genre he attempts equally skillfully, there's a pop music core to most of these songs that keeps ''99.9%'' listenable throughout." Kaytranada has won the 2016 Polaris Music Prize for the album.

Accolades

Track listing

All tracks produced by Kaytranada, except "Bus Ride" by Kaytranada, Karriem Riggins and

River Tiber The Tiber ( ; it, Tevere ; la, Tiberis) is the third-longest river in Italy and the longest in Central Italy, rising in the Apennine Mountains in Emilia-Romagna and flowing through Tuscany, Umbria, and Lazio, where it is joined by the Riv ...

, and "Weight Off" by Kaytranada and

BadBadNotGood BadBadNotGood (stylized in all caps) is a Canadian instrumental band and production team from Toronto, Canada. The group was founded in 2010 by bassist Chester Hansen, keyboardist Matthew Tavares, and drummer Alexander Sowinski. In 2016, they w ...

. Notes * "Track Uno" contains a sample of "I Figure I'm Out of Your Life" by

Delegation Delegation is the assignment of authority to another person (normally from a manager to a subordinate) to carry out specific activities. It is the process of distributing and entrusting work to another person,Schermerhorn, J., Davidson, P., Poole ...

, written by Kenneth Gold and Michael Denne. * "Bus Ride" contains a sample of "По садочку хожу", written by Валерий Колесников, Вячеслав Новиков, Владимир Молотков and Александр Христидис. * "Got It Good" contains a sample of "Olho de Vidro" by Jaime & Nair, written by Jaime Alem. * "Drive Me Crazy" contains a sample of "Bermuda Triangle", written by

Alan Hawkshaw William Alan Hawkshaw (27 March 1937 – 16 October 2021) was a British composer and performer, particularly of library music used as themes for movies and television programs. Hawkshaw worked extensively for the KPM production music company ...

. * "Despite the Weather" contains excerpts from "Camouflage" written by Bob Selvin. * "Glowed Up" contains a sample of "Raindrops" by Bobby Heath, Eric Peters and Robert Hunter. * "Breakdance Lesson N.1" features samples from the Attitude recording "Love Me Tonight", written by David Frank Michael Murphy. * "Lite Spots" contains a sample of "Pontos De Luz" performed by

Gal Costa Gal Maria da Graça Costa Penna Burgos (born Maria da Graça Costa Penna Burgos; 26 September 1945 – 9 November 2022), known professionally as Gal Costa (), was a Brazilian singer of popular music. She was one of the main figures of the tro ...

, and written by

Jards Macalé Jards Anet da Silva (Rio de Janeiro, March 3, 1943), known as Macalé, is a Brazilian composer, singer and actor, known for his influential role in Brazil's tropicália movement in the 1960s. Background Jards Macalé was born in Rio de Janeiro ...

and

Waly Salomão Waly Dias Salomão (September 3, 1943 – May 5, 2003) was a Brazilian poet. He was born in Jequié, Bahia. He acted on several areas of Brazilian culture as poet, songwriter and writer. His first book was “Me segura qu’eu vou dar um troç ...

.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:99.9 2016 albums Albums produced by Kaytranada Albums produced by BadBadNotGood Kaytranada albums Polaris Music Prize-winning albums XL Recordings albums Juno Award for Electronic Album of the Year albums Albums produced by Tre Jean-Marie