Kaytranada Announces New Batch Of '99.9%' Tour Dates
Photo Credit: AverieCole for Okayplayer
Photo Credit: Vickey Ford for Okayplayer
Pharrell appeared on Kaytranada's latest album BUBBA.
In a recent interview with GQ, Kaytranada discussed his latest album BUBBA and working with Pharrell on it, turning down a meeting with Dr. Dre, and the challenges of coming out as a gay Black man.
READ: Kaytranada Wants To Release Another Album Within Months
In regards to Pharrell, Kaytranada recalled how Pharrell first said he was going to work with the young producer when he appeared on Pharrell's Beats 1 Radio show OTHERtone, before going on to reveal how his feature came about.
"I had to reach out to him. We made a beat and he's like, 'Yo, put me in the studio!' and he was singing all this stuff," Kay said. "And you know Pharrell — he's a chameleon. He's put himself in everybody's world. And he kind of put himself in my world."
"So I just played the beat for 'Midsection' with the kick and all that. When the beat drops, you hear the kick coming up with the claps and stuff. But he just liked the sample loop that's going on in the beginning. Dude was just vibing," he added. "He was just going crazy and he was coming up with ideas so fast."
The topic of Dr. Dre came up when Kay was asked if he turned down any collaborations with artists when he first gained attention in the early 2010s. Believinng that it wouldn't work out at the time, the producer recalled how his meeting with Dre almost happened.
"Dr. Dre wanted to meet me and play beats and, I didn't think I had the beats to play, and I was just like, 'You know what? Nevermind. Maybe next time,'" he said. "And I kind of regret it today."
Kay also spoke about the challenges he has faced since revealing that he is gay (which he first shared in a 2016 interview with the Fader), as well as the criticism he has faced for having a white boyfriend.
"There's a lot of crazy things that comes with it. I had to get away from social media, get away from a lot of things, the Internet," he said.
"People were talking shit about all the time. A lot of gay men were not happy, calling me 'white man slave' and stuff like that. [Laughs.] And I'm like, 'Damn, ok!' That's what it is, man. I had to learn a lot," he added.
Read the interview in its entirety here.
Source: GQ
