Summer’s nearly over as we begin to roll into the busy autumn season, and it’s a real privilege to feature Kaytranada on our cover this issue. The Canadian producer is right at the top of his game just now, his ‘Timeless’ album cementing his place as in-demand international beat-maker extraordinaire. It’s one of the albums of the year.
Seeing Kaytranada play in Paris back in June, I was struck by the way he incorporates a kaleidoscope of influences into his sound, picks really cool people to collab with, and how he effortlessly brings together the twin worlds of house and hip-hop in some of his more uptempo productions (“refracting Stax soul and De La Soul through a French touch prism” I wrote at the time). Verily, right now in 2024, Kaytranada is king of the beats. Ben Murphy expertly tells his story from page 78 onwards this issue.
Elsewhere, Ria Hylton documents the historical development of the CDJ as the DJing medium reaches its 30th anniversary milestone this year (p93); we spend some time with ace DJ/producer Just Her at her home in Brighton (p102); hook up with dynamite dubstep producer Joker in Bristol to hear about his sonic development (p109); talk to
the two heads of drum & bass label Shogun Audio, Friction and K-Tee, about the label’s 20-year journey (p115), and a lot more besides.
Our scene is so beautifully diverse, it hurts. Dance music is the gift that keeps on giving. Keep it locked.
Carl Loben
Editor