SXSW: GoldLink at Soulection’s “Sound of Tomorrow” Showcase

Posted by admin on March 27, 2014

On Saturday March 15th at precisely 2:50pm in sunny Austin, Texas the young and mysterious rapper by the name of GoldLink stepped upon the stage at Barcelona. A showcase aptly titled the “Sound of Tomorrow” had a bill filled with the futuristic sounding producers on Soulection’s roster. GoldLink was neither a part of Soulection’s imprint, nor was he a producer…so as I and the numerous other audience members asked ourselves what he was doing up on stage, he slowly began to gather himself and show us why.

GoldLink’s music is best described by Chuck Allen of Way Less Effort: “Of all the new sounds that have popped up in the industry, from the soul-sucking gothic southern grime that the UK and South Florida have been dropping, to the glo’d up trap of the Chi, this new “future bounce” sound really stands out. It doesn’t throw it all the way back to boom-bap like the “New New York” ish that Pro Era has been pushing, and it isn’t on that entirely digital production tip either. It 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 from the likes of Kaytranada and Ta-ku. Add that to Goldlink’s roller coaster flow that fills every pocket of the dynamic instrumentals he tackles, and suddenly your head and shoulders are bobbing and you don’t know what happened.” *1

This future-bounce movement was prevalent all the way through his performance as he went worked through his short SoundCloud catalog, spitting out his semi-viral hits such at “Creep”, “Playah”, and at-the-time-unreleased song “Planet Paradise”. I was entranced by his energetic stage presence and ability to work a crowd whom was not at all expecting to be seeing a rapper on stage.

GoldLink has remained unseen by the internet world, but with his forthcoming mixtape, The God Complex set to drop in a matter of days, I can’t imagine his face avoiding the limelight for much longer. Enjoy, GoldLink’s newest release “Planet Paradise” produced by Louie Lastic, and be sure to prepare yourself for SXSW next year, since it’s never too early to start planning!