on the record

In the first installment of Billboard’s new series On the Record, Kaytranada reflects on the origins of his sound, sharing the rich history of acts that his family introduced to him. Elsewhere in the discussion, the Haitian-Canadian hitmaker speaks about leaning into “the idea of different” when it comes to creating music and his collaborative project with Aminé.Kaytranada:I think memories and a song can go hand in hand. I feel like I’m doing the same to a lot of my fans, trying to create memories with my music.

My music really evolved, it doesn’t really sound like what people call “the Kaytranada sound.” It’s very hip-hop, but it’s still electronic house and R&B, it’s like, all those genres. And I just added swing, you know, like, keep the funk alive.

Growing up, my dad used to play a lot of, like, Haitian music, Compas music, where there’s, like, the old ones, or the recent ones, he was, like, playing a lot. We had a big sound system in our house, so music was always something important, you know. Then, it came to my sisters and they were playing, you know, a lot of like hip-hop, like, Jill Scott, Jay Z.

Rock music was something that was very, there like Linkin Park.

When it comes to me, it’s definitely like a combination of, like, you know, what I grew up listening to outside of Haitian music. But then when I got a little bit older, I just incorporate that more. And it felt like I took it for granted because I was not loving it because, you know, my parents were like, “Why don’t you listen to that? Why don’t you listen to that?” And I’m like, “Man, get out!” You know, but then, like, you hear something like “4EVA,” which is heavily Compas influence.Watch the full video above!