Kaytranada

Kaytranada And Anderson .Paak Host A Futuristic Rave In Their ‘Twin Flame’ Video

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It was only a matter of time. With big-name artists like Drake and Beyonce (and emerging acts like Doechii and Leikeli47) sparking interest in dance music among hip-hop and R&B fans, Canadian dance maestro Kaytranada had to be planning his own comeback to take advantage. After both superstars released their respective dance efforts on the same weekend (Honestly, Nevermind and “Break My Soul“), Kay’s name trended on Twitter as fans wondered whether he had something new in the works.

Today, he made his highly-anticipated return with the help of another Black genre revivalist, Anderson .Paak, whose soulful sensibilities offer the perfect pairing for the nu-disco grooves of “Twin Flame.” In the song’s accompanying video, the two artists host a retro-futuristic rave with fashions right out of late ’90s sci-fi as they hold court above a packed dance floor.

Kaytranada’s last album, Bubba, came out in 2019, pre-pandemic, and was lavished with critical praise and awards including the Grammy for Best Dance/Electronic Album and the Juno for Dance Recording Of The Year. Since then, he’s sprinkled his influence throughout the music world, dropping the Intimidated EP in 2021 and connecting with DMV rapper IDK earlier this year for Simple. Meanwhile, Anderson .Paak is fresh off of the funk homage group project Silk Sonic with Bruno Mars, on which they saluted ’70s and ’80s Black dad favorites like Con Funk Shun, The Gap Band, Isley Brothers, and Frankie Beverly and Maze.

Watch the video for “Twin Flame” above and stay tuned for more from Kaytranada, who’s currently touring the US and Canada alongside The Weeknd. Check out the dates for that below.

8/4 – Tampa, FL @ Raymond James Stadium*
8/6 – Miami, FL @ Hard Rock Stadium*
8/7 – Seattle, WA @ Day Trip Festival
8/18 – Denver, CO @ Empower Field at Mile High*
8/20 – Las Vegas, NV @ Allegiant Stadium*
8/23 – Vancouver, BC @ BC Place*
8/27 -28 – Pasadena, CA @ This Ain’t No Picnic
8/30 – Phoenix, AZ @ State Farm Stadium*
9/2 – Los Angeles, CA @ SoFi Stadium*
9/3 – Los Angeles, CA @ SoFi Stadium*
9/4 – Chicago, IL @ North Coast Festival
9/8 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Mirage [SOLD OUT]
9/9 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Mirage [SOLD OUT]
9/22 – Toronto, CA @ Rogers Centre*
9/24 – San Francisco, CA @ Portola Music Festival

The Weeknd Announces New Openers To Replace Doja Cat On His ‘After Hours ‘Til Dawn’ Tour

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The Weeknd 2021 iHeart Awards
Getty Image / Kevin Winter

Just days before his hotly anticipated “After Hours ‘Til Dawn” tour is set to kick off, The Weeknd has announced new openers who will support him throughout the trek. Joining The Weeknd for the 19-date North America leg are Mike Dean, Snoh Aalegra, and Kaytranada, as reported by Variety.

Rapper and singer Doja Cat was originally set to open for The Weeknd on the tour. However, she is currently recovering from a tonsil surgery she underwent last month. The tour kicks off Friday, July 8 in Toronto, where Dean and Kaytranada will open. Dean will appear on all 19 dates of the North American leg. Aalegra’s will join them beginning August 11 at Mercedes Stadium in Atlanta.

“Unfortunately I have to have surgery on my tonsils ASAP. The surgery is routine but the recovery is going to take awhile due to swelling,” Doja said in a since-deleted Instagram post. “That means I have to cancel my festival run this summer as well as The Weeknd tour. I feel horrible about this but can’t wait for this to heal and get back to making music and create an experience for y’all.”

“The entire show is conceptual,” said The Weeknd’s creative director La Mar Taylor to Variety. “There is a linear story between After Hours and Dawn FM, and I think the audience will walk away with different interpretations of the show. To us, that’s the whole point.”

IDK Is Bringing ‘Simple’ And His Other Projects On A World Tour Starting This Summer

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IDK 2022 listening party
Getty Image

DMV rapper IDK earned himself a big moment at the end of 2019 with the release of his major-label debut album Is He Real? The project, unfortunately, came at the wrong time in the world as the coronavirus pandemic arrived just three months later. With that, tours and live concerts alike were paused, which stopped artists from capitalizing on their work with performances in front of their fans. Despite the inconvenience, IDK kept pushing full-stream ahead as he released three more projects in that time period: IDK & Friends 2, USee4Yourself, and the recently-released Simple with Kaytranada. Now that the time is right, IDK is ready to bring impressive discography on a worldwide tour.

Starting this summer, IDK will hit the road for the Simple World Tour. A flyer for the tour reveals that IDK plans to perform IWasVeryBad, Is He Real?, USee4Yourself, and Simple while he’s on the road. The string of shows begins at the end of June with a performance in Switzerland followed by two festival sets in Netherlands and Germany. IDK will then return to the states to continue the tour alongside Charlotte rapper Mavi. After concluding the North American section of his tour at the end of August with a show in Boston, IDK will bring things back to Europe at the end of October for a collection of shows that goes through November.

You can view the full list of dates for the Simple World Tour above.

IDK is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.