Goldlink

To call GoldLink an aspiring rapper would not do him justice. The DMV-bred emcee accrued over one million plays on his Soundcloud and captured the attention of an entire industry with the first six songs he ever released.

GoldLink's sound doesn't throw it all the way back to the boom-bap, New York style, nor is it entirely a product of digital production. Instead, the music mixes the buttery grooves of 90's R&B with classic hip-hop breaks to give it an essence of nostalgia, and then turns on its head with bouncy, forward-thinking production style led by the likes of Ta-Ku and Kaytranda. Add that to GoldLink's ability to fill every pocket of the dynamic instrumentals he tackles with a roller-coaster delivery, and suddenly your head is bobbing to the self-proclaimed "future-bounce" genre.

The racing mind of a 20-year old is usually not a romantically stable place, so you will often hear GoldLink battling the worries and woes of his love life. However, with the mental and social acuity of someone far beyond his years, it is not out of the ordinary to find GoldLink tackling a larger social injustice. Whether it be dealing cocaine, gun-toting friends, an absent father, or the general hardship of growing up in the ghetto, there is substance behind the sound.

GoldLink has only one full project, (The God Complex), under his belt and has still been able to receive the support of outlets like FADER, Complex, Noisey, and Shade 45. The recognition spread further than the web though, as GoldLink played several showcases at SXSW including one alongside the future-bounce conglomerates at Soulection.

The short career of GoldLink thus far has shown him relative success, and with the release of The God Complex on April 1st, we are all excited to watch, experience, and dance to his progression.