Kaytranada is gearing up for his debut XL Recordings album 99.9%, which is set to drop May 6 of this year. Ahead of that, he let The Fader cover him for an in-depth profile about his quietly impressive rise to prominence and the struggles he had along the way.
The profile finds Louis Kevin Celestin in his family home in a small, immigrant-rich suburb of Montreal. His parents are both Haitian, Kaytranada came over to Canada with them in 1993. He grew up there with his brother, older sister, mom and dad (who moved out when he was 14). Always a shy kid, he continued to live at home while his house-remixes were reposted across Soundcloud and YouTube. Even as he dropped out of high school to tour and support his family financially, opening up for the likes of Madonna and killing club DJ sets, he continued to live at home.
However, he was never happy. “I was touring with Ryan Hemsworth, and I’d see him have so much fun,” Kaytranada recalls. “It was depressing for me, I was lonely.” He couldn’t figure out why, until one day he got in a fight with his family. “I just snapped. Something inside me was like, ‘Wake the fuck up,’” the talented producer explains. “I was trying to be somebody I was not, and I was frustrated that people didn’t know who I was.” Kaytranada uses The Fader profile to reveal himself to the world for the first time ever. He’s gay, and always struggled with it, growing up in a conservative Haitian household, with other friends of similarly conservative upbringings. He still hasn’t told his father.
With his album on the cusp or release and the potential become even bigger, Kaytranada finds himself preparing for the biggest moment of his life. But he’s finally happy and himself, two things more important than any record deal.
[via The Fader]