Goldlink – Got his Voice and D.C. is behind him

GoldLink is a 24 year old rising artist from Washington D.C. As a child, he was born into a working class family. His parents separated at a very young age, leaving GoldLink to have strained relationship with both his mom and dad. At 18, this inspired GoldLink to work towards his music career as he figured that he had no one to hold him back. GoldLink immediately took a methodical approach to making music, studying techniques and sounds in order to learn the key factors to success.

GoldLink first published his music on Soundcloud in 2013 and saw enough success to inspire his first ever album release the following year. This album “The God Complex” received critical acclaim, reaching the 19th spot on Spin’s Best Hip Hop Album of 2014 list, as well as being named one of Complex magazine’s best projects of the year. Following the success of “God Complex”, GoldLink was featured as a rapper on XXL’s Freshman class of 2014. In March of 2017, GoldLink released his second studio album, “At What Cost”

“At What Cost” confirmed that GoldLink’s rise to fame won’t be stopping any time soon. For any new artist, perhaps the hardest part of gaining fame is being able to find a style and voice that is entirely unique. GoldLink masters both of these elements. Stylistically, there is no better example of GoldLink’s diverse sound than on the album “At What Cost”. From the upbeat pop sound of “Crew” to the mellower “Herside Story” there is a dynamic flow between the style of each track. Even the distorted funk beat of “Parable of a Rich Man” shows GoldLink’s ability to adapt and experiment with different sounds. Over each beat on the album, GoldLink perfectly matches his vocals to push the vibe of the song forward.

To top it all off, GoldLink has used his unique sound to do something even more important, create his own voice. Music is meant to be an expression of self, and artists who fail to understand how their music is effected by this are often unsuccessful. Maybe it is the somewhat lacking number of artists out of Washington D.C. in the last few years, but GoldLink seems to be expressing much more than just himself in his music. GoldLink raps about life as a black man in the DMV area, as well as the cultural destruction gentrification has brought to some D.C. neighborhoods in the recent years. The ability to give a powerful voice to these issues means that GoldLink can become an icon within D.C. as well as his potential to bring his music to the next level of success.