Kaytranada’s Scrounge Face Fantasy

Montreal’s mercurial future-funk DJ/producer Kaytranada is starting to feel himself. Growing confident at every turn, the formerly bashful Haitian-Canadian born Kevin Celestin capably delivers the funk, and nothing but the funk, albeit updated for his millennial peers. Said community showed up to Emo’s Thursday night for just that.

No longer living on live mixing his signature remixes and productions for other artists, Kaytranada leveled up on East Riverside Drive with the source of his newfound confidence: the prominence and promise of his own material. Opening the 90-minute set with a sound bite (if it could be called that) of Brooklyn rapper Desiigner’s now-infamous FaceTimed seal and car squeals, the producer fired up an early-Nineties NYC and/or Paris dance party, leading directly into genre-defying “Track Uno.”

Seamlessly mixing Kaytranada hits (Vic Mensa-assisted “Drive Me Crazy”) and his vaunted, neck-snapping remixes – Rihanna’s “Kiss It Better” and Missy Elliott’s “Sock It To Me” and “I’m Really Really Hot” – the constant to all were utterly ridiculous and unmatched basslines. No one in the industry today can touch him in this department.

His best creations are unrecognizable faces, because you’ll scrounge your mug at the first bump of his bass downstroke. He even weaved into the mix a rolling Luther Vandross production, “Jump to It,” just to let you know where his lineage begins. Emo’s swelled on his two best tracks, “Lite Spots” and his "mission statement" remix of Janet Jackson’s “If.”

The visuals were typical: vibrant animation of his 99.9% album cover, and his name in various fonts. Then there were snippets of Hype Williams’ film Belly, specifically the club and shootout scenes with the character played by rapper DMX.

The comical visuals for his infectious banger, “At All,” played on the big board, catching the attention of many. Seemingly out of Kaytra’s fantasy, it featured three attractive (and shredded) fitness models splashing each other in bikinis, pulling a truck, or carrying him down a serene pathway.

The show didn’t go off without a hitch, as he had a couple of computer/controller issues – which would have visibly frustrated him in the past, but did nothing to dampen fans’ enthusiasm. For many reasons, Kaytranada’s elevated one-man funk festival showcases a man at peace with his music, and himself.