Haitian-Canadian DJ and producer, Kaytranada won his first two GRAMMYs for Best Dance/Electronic Album and Best Dance Recording. While other prominent artists (Donna Summer, Janet Jackson, Q-Tip, and Rihanna) have all claimed the award for Best Dance Recording in previous years, Kaytranada is the first Black artist to win the coveted title for Best Dance/Electronic Album.
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The 28-year-old made his debut in 2016 with his breakthrough album, 99.9% and by the time his critically-acclaimed sophomore LP, BUBBA was released in 2019, he signed a major label deal and publicly came out as gay. He considers the GRAMMY-winning album to be “a project that I made from the bottom of my heart," as stated in an interview with Billboard.
The uptempo blend of R&B and dance bops features several impactful artists like Masego, Tinashe, SiR, Estelle, Teedra Moses and Pharrell.
Wins aside, he was also nominated for Best New Artist. Kaytranada explained to Billboard that BUBBA “was influenced by the Black and queer DJs who pioneered house and techno.” Not to mention, he feels regardless of the scrutinizing conversations that happen regarding the GRAMMYs, “we can’t ignore it.” Stating, “we love it and we hate it, but it’s still a prestigious award. We can’t really just ignore the Grammys like that. A lot of legends want Grammys. A lot of legends never got nominated, too. I’m sure that back in the day, people were talking as well, it’s just that there was no social media. Marvin Gaye won his first Grammy with "Sexual Healing," which was not [from] his best album, of course, and it was late in his career. I’m sure Twitter would’ve been crazy then.”
One Twitter user was even shocked about this being the first time a Black artist has won the award for Best Dance/Electronic Album, saying “that’s wild!!! We are dance culture.”
When asked about how the history of dance music molded BUBBA, Kaytranada reflected about his deep dive into the careers of Larry Levan, Ron Hardy, Frankie Knuckles and countless others. He learned that many Black DJs have never been nominated, but feels “there should be more recognition and more flowers to be given.”
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