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Music

GoldLink

GOLDLINK with CLAIRMONT THE SECOND, JAHKOY and CRSB as part of CANADIAN MUSIC WEEK at Tattoo (567 Queen West), Saturday (May 2), doors 7 pm, all ages. $20. Wristbands/passes accepted. cmw.net.


GoldLink gives a clear and concise answer when asked why he became a rapper.

“Rap is boring to me,” the 21-year-old says over the phone from his home in the DMV metro area (DC, Maryland, Virginia). “So for me personally to be excited, I have to rap on something that sounds different. That’s common sense.

“Traditional urban music does not like change,” he elaborates. “It likes sticking to what it’s used to. Whenever something new is approached by a traditional system – especially urban-wise – it’s shot down immediately until it’s proven to work.”

Goldlink began generating buzz with a string of singles and last spring’s The God Complex, a mixtape with quick BPMs that spin through R&B, pop, classic house and old-school hip-hop references to land on a style he calls “future bounce.”

Culled down to nine tracks from 200, it centres around the idea that humans can never be as a perfect as God and should therefore focus on progression, not perfection. There are playful touches and samples – like Britney’s Toxic – that rappers obsessed with appearing “hard” might consider anathema, but playing against type is part of GoldLink’s vision.

“I was trying to be as braggadocious and as much of an asshole as possible while maintaining some sort of humility,” he explains.

Songs touch on gang life, abusive relationships and family issues. On a freestyle to Kendrick Lamar’s The Heart, his voice cracks as he ferociously unpacks his issues with his parents’ divorce.

“I don’t like talking, so that’s my form of talking. It was very therapeutic,” he says of that song. “Making the first tape, I was very angry. I was poor. I was excited. I was new. Now it’s more like you have more money and you’re a little different and you see things in another way.”

Def Jam co-founder Rick Rubin is a fan and reached out to collaborate on new music.

“Why I respect Rick is he is one of those very few – if not one of the only ones – who understands that hip-hop has to change,” he says. “Instead of fighting it, he’s getting with the times. He heard [The God Complex] and was like, ‘This is what’s next. I understand it, I love it, and this is the kid for it.'”

But GoldLink is in no rush to crank out music to remain relevant or sign with a label. 

“Before, it was coming straight off the top, straight from the heart,” he says. “I don’t have that much to say any more. So now it’s more about taking time and having experiences.”

kevinr@nowtoronto.com | @kevinritchie

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