Undiscovered: Kaydee – The Transition Review

Finally it is upon us! The Transition – the brand new album coming from The Music Brewery favourite Kaydee – has finally been released and I am happy to say it doesn’t disappoint. Excellent production supports the impressive up and comer Kaydee in telling his driven and motivating story. But how does it stack up compared to the rest of this year’s releases?A quick recap for those who haven’t kept up to date with Kaydee so far. Kaydee is a young up and coming star hailing from Toronto, Canada, who has started making some seriously big impressions in the world of hip hop. A lyrical MC that more obsessed with becoming a legend in the game than the fortune and fame associated with the rap game. A feat easier said than done, especially with the amount of talent out there.

I first heard of Kaydee sometime back in September when we received an email about an upcoming single that was dropping called ‘The Drill’ this immediately became one of my most played tunes of the last few months. I have previously compared Kaydee to the likes of Joey Bada$$ and Meechy Darko of Flatbush Zombies, the aggressive and wordy flow sets them and Kaydee apart from many, many other MCs.

Onto the actual album, where we start off with a huge tune ‘INTROduction’ that really sets the tone for the album. Utilising the classic J Dilla beat ‘Fall In Love’ which coincidently is one of my most favourite beats of all time, it is the perfect way to kick off The Transition, it is a perfect head-bobbingly awesome beat with the perfect drums and muted keyboard that provide the perfect platform for Kaydee to do his thing. Kaydee goes hard in this opening track, rhyming about the other options he could have gone for instead of rapping. Dealing on the streets and pushing rapping to a hobby is a common tale we hear from rappers but thank god Kaydee stuck with rapping!

Following on from the ‘INTROduction’ is a track I have previously covered entitled ‘I Am Legend’ – a tune that really shows Kaydee’s level of enthusiasm and ambition for his path in the world of hip hop. Unlike fellow Canadian Drake, Kaydee is more focused on his rhymes and going for that more traditional, golden age style of pure hip hop, which in my eyes and ears is a great thing. In a time where we have the likes of Drake creating pop crossover tunes or Young Thug creating… well I don’t have a clue what you call Young Thug’s music… it is great to hear a stripped back hip hop album that is focusing on story telling and having a narrative. Instead of boasting about money and women, Kaydee instead focuses on telling the story of the world he has found himself in and how he got to where he is now.

I would have to agree with Kaydee in his description for the album in saying that if compared to recent releases it would go in the same category as Kendrick Lamar’s Good Kid M.A.A.D City or YG’s My Krazy Life as it follows a narrative and feels like a totally complete project. Throughout The Transition we find out more and more about Kaydee, song by song more details are leaked out about his life. ‘F.A.M. (Family Always Matters)’ details to us the difficulties that Kaydee experienced growing up, with poverty and life expectations a serious trouble. But this is nothing new for Kaydee, he is not afraid of delving into his personal and intimate moments from his past, and this is really what sets Kaydee apart from a lot of other rappers.

At 21 songs long most people without listening would automatically say that The Transition is too long and oversized, however I am not one of those people. This is the life’s work of an extremely talented MC, a life’s work cannot be too long in my opinion, it takes as long as necessary in order to tell your story. There is a saying in hip hop that your first album is your life’s work and anything after that is just a matter of a few years work. Now as there are 21 tracks I thought I would share some of my favourites, so where better to start than the ‘INTROduction’ you all already know why I love this, it’s a J Dilla beat what’s not to love? Next up I would have to say ‘North Side Behaviour’ an awesomely breezing beat that feels like XXYYXX and some poignant lyrics detailing the struggle to the top and how temptations are always there to distract you. ‘Tracy McGrady’ again is a huge tune that details Kaydee’s old dreams of becoming a basketball player until a knee injury scuppered any such chances, I love this song, you can you really feel some of the anger and disappointment stemming from his knee injuries in Kaydee’s voice.

I am going to give The Transition an impressive 9/10. This is an album that you are unlikely to hear on the radio or for it to crossover to the mainstream, but that therein lies the point, this is one rapper trying to tell his story. I love this album and will be listening to it on repeat for a long time to come, whether this will become a long term classic remains to be seen but what I can say is that Kaydee is definitely heading the right way.

So give it a listen and be sure to like and share, because remember sharing is caring people!

Will S x