KAYTRANADA IS SEATED inside a dimly lit bistro in Montreal's Mile End, wearing large sunglasses and a Frank Zappa T-shirt, regretting the hedonism that led to his present ruined condition. He lives in Los Angeles, but he grew up here, in a quiet borough some ten miles away, and a trip home for his mother's birthday has also meant debaucherous reunions with childhood friends.
"I don't want to drink anymore," he says half-heartedly in a soft French Canadian accent, pushing away the wine menu before ordering a bottle of sparkling water. Famous last words from the in-demand DJ-producer for whom partying is both his métier and escape. Kaytra recently attempted to forgo weed, too-his Grammy-winning sophomore album, 2019's Bubba, was named for the strain he smoked while developing its effervescent sound-but he could only manage the abstinence for about three weeks this summer, during which he had unsettling dreams.
In one, the snaggletooth on the right side of his smile somehow cracked in half, birthing a procession of other, smaller teeth that he couldn't stop spitting up. Google theorized that some tectonic change or loss is imminent, perhaps the death of an old self. "Whatever," he grumbles in his characteristically blasé fashion, leaning back into his chair.
"I guess I'll be on the lookout." Kaytra got his start as a teenager reverse engineering Dilla beats on his computer and remixing old hip-hop and R&B songs in a basement bedroom-reworks that totally transformed songs by Common or Janet Jackson or Amerie and still stand the test of time. He is now seen as one of the most significant musicians from Canada in the past few decades.
Esta historia es de la edición August 26 - September 08, 2024 de New York magazine.
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Esta historia es de la edición August 26 - September 08, 2024 de New York magazine.
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THE BEST ART SHOWS OF THE YEAR
IN NOVEMBER, Sotheby's made history when it sold for a million bucks a painting made by artificial intelligence. Ai-Da, \"the first humanoid robot artist to have an artwork auctioned by a major auction house,\" created a portrait of Alan Turing that resembles nothing more than a bad Francis Bacon rip-off. Still, the auction house described the sale as \"a new frontier in the global art market.\"
THE BIGGEST PODCAST MOMENTS OF THE YEAR
A STRANGE THING happened with podcasts in 2024: The industry was repeatedly thrust into the spotlight owing to a preponderance of head-turning events and a presidential-election cycle that radically foregrounded the medium's consequential nature. To reflect this, we've carved out a list of ten big moments from the year as refracted through podcasting.
THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR
THE YEAR IN CULTURE - BEST BOOKS
THE BEST THEATER OF THE YEAR
IT'S BEEN a year of successful straight plays, even measured by a metric at which they usually do poorly: ticket sales. Partially that's owed to Hollywood stars: Jeremy Strong, Jim Parsons, Rachel Zegler, Rachel McAdams (to my mind, the most compelling).
THE BEST ALBUMS OF THE YEAR
2024 WAS one big stress test that presented artists with a choice: Face uncomfortable realities or serve distractions to the audience. Pop music turned inward while hip-hop weathered court cases and incalculable losses. Country struggled to reconcile conservative interests with a much wider base of artists. But the year's best music offered a reprieve.
THE BEST TELEVISION OF THE YEAR
IT WAS SURPRISING how much 2024 felt like an uneventful wake for the Peak TV era. There was still great television, but there was much more mid or meh television and far fewer moments when a critical mass of viewers seemed equally excited about the same series.
THE BEST COMEDY SPECIALS OF THE YEAR
THE YEAR IN CULTURE - COMEDY SPECIALS
THE BEST MOVIES OF THE YEAR
PEOPLE LOVED Megalopolis, hated it, puzzled over it, clipped it into memes, and tried to astroturf it into a camp classic, but, most important, they cared about it even though it featured none of the qualities you'd expect of a breakthrough work in these noisy times.
A Truly Great Time
This was the year our city's new restaurants loosened up.
The Art of the Well-Stuffed Stocking
THE CHRISTMAS ENTHUSIASTS on the Strategist team gathered to discuss the oversize socks they drape on their couches and what they put inside them.