Interview: Kaytranada

Hailing from Montreal, Kaytranada and his 99.9% album are currently taking the music industry by storm. With features from Craig David, Anderson. Paak, Vic Mensa, Goldlink and many more the sound is genre bending and will have you on the edge of your seat with the turn of every track.

Joining Sway in the Morning he speaks on his childhood in Canada and how he came across Fruity Loops and began to make music. Taking inspiration from everything from The Neptunes to Michael Jackson to 90's pop, he began crafting a sound all his own.

Getting noticed on Soundcloud through his various beats and remix's he caught the attention of Janet Jackson and Madonna. Given the VIP treatment by Madonna while opening up for her he speaks on how touring opened up the door for depression after going through the same routine day in and day out. Revealing his sexual orientation to The Fader he opens up about how coming out of the closet helped ease his depression.

During the rest of his time he speaks on the different in the music scenes of Montreal and Toronto and jokes about making a giant Canadian collaborative album.

Watch his interview below from Sway in the Morning and if you haven't gotten his new album 99.9%, go check it out!

Podcast: "Express Yourself" (The BackBeat)

On this week’s episode of The BackBeat, we discuss the historic 2016 TONY Awards in which all four acting categories in a musical went to people of color. Next, we discuss VH1’s plan to bring back their Hip Hop Honors show with Queen Latifah as the first honoree this year. Do you remember Miki Howard? If you don’t we have you covered with a short review of her recent biopic, Love Under New Management. We take on the 2016 XXL Freshman Cover, which doesn’t feature any women artists before we discuss Prince’s induction into the Apollo Walk of Fame. We end with reflections on recent concerts from Anderson Paak and Beyonce!

Stay tuned until the end of the episode where we discuss our songs of the moment! Marcus chooses cuts from Chasing Destiny, Miki Howard, and Kaytranada. While Kyera takes us down south to New Orleans with bounce classics from Big Freedia, Nicky Da B, and Sissy Nobby.

Podcast: "Back To SUMMERS'night" (The BackBeat)

On this week’s episode, we welcome back Maxwell to the musical scene with his new single "Lake by the Ocean" and his tour kicking off this summer. We review Big Sean and Jhene Aiko’s new album Twenty88. Next, we discuss rumors of André 3000's new album as well as Beyonce’s Elle Magazine cover in which she discusses Formation and police brutality. We then update everyone on the latest developments in Kesha’s sexual assault case against Dr. Luke and Sony Music. Finally, we wonder if we will ever hear Tinashe’s Joyride album since she has postponed the tour to work on new music!

During our songs of the week segment, Marcus chooses cuts from Rihanna, Maxwell, and Jill Scott. While Kyera encourages us to listen to some Kaytranada, Drake, and Schoolboy Q.