GoldLink Lives In The Present

We captured the rapper in some of his favorite local haunts. HYPEBEAST Features - Go in-depth and learn more about the culture. [HYPEBEAST]( [Features]( August 30, 2019 [GOLDLINK LIVES IN THE PRESENT]( We captured the rapper in some of his favorite local haunts. Mikey Massey | HYPEBEAST GoldLink’s Diaspora sounds like London. Hailing from Washington, D.C., the rapper made an album that captures the UK capital’s mixture of sounds better than anything we’ve heard from a rapper who wasn’t born in England. While outsiders might first picture Buckingham Palace, tea and crumpets or another outdated cliche when they think of London, the actual picture of the city is very different. London’s population is [41% black and ethnic minorities]( with the majority of black Britons coming from countries that were formerly under the rule of the British empire, such as Nigeria and Jamaica. Due to concerted pushes from Britain to recruit skilled foreign workers from these former colonies, there was a growth in immigration during the 1950s and onwards. That resulted in a combination of first and second generation Britons who grew up hearing sounds from their parents’ home continents and have, in turn, inserted it into their music. Everybody's always flirting with Afro-futurism but it's like Afro-nowism is now — the shift is happening now. everything is just starting to become one. Mikey Massey | HYPEBEAST This mixture can be heard in London’s myriad of musical scenes. While Jungle, Garage and Grime all riff on Jamaican sound system culture in their own way, afrobeats (or Afro-Fusion/Afro-Swing depending on what you prefer to call it) takes influence from the West African sounds of Nigeria and Ghana. GoldLink’s Diaspora brings all of those disparate sounds together into one album, creating something that feels both familiar and unlike anything we’ve heard before. Whether it’s “Zulu Screams” pulling from afrobeats or “Yard” looking to Dancehall, it’s a feeling that was no accident, according to GoldLink. When we asked the D.C.-born rapper how he created Diaspora, he said that he starts with an idea, “I conceptually figure out what it is that I want to do in my head. And then try to accomplish that goal by creating a sound that doesn't really exist until I create it.” And while the album is influenced by London, it’s actually not the city where he first thought of the concept — that distinction goes instead to Amsterdam. For GoldLink, London — specifically Shoreditch, where he stays while he’s in the city — was a symbol, “I use London as an observation of what I figured out that was going on everywhere at the same time.”. [READ THE FULL ARTICLE ON HYPEBEAST →]( [banner]( [banner](   [More HYPEBEAST Features]( [[FASHION]( [8 Drops You Don't Want to Miss This Week]( [[FASHION]( [15 Practical Bags to Upgrade Your Everyday Carry]( [Get The App Free on iOS and Android]( Follow --------------------------------------------------------------- 2019 HYPEBEAST Limited. All Rights Reserved [Manage Subscriptions]( You are receiving this email because you have subscribed to HYPEBEAST's marketing emails. You can unsubscribe from us any time by clicking [here](2FqFJIhQxMzQwNzE2OTk3ODMwNjgGOwBU--9a1cce52da3915c4aff9154e39c463d0a04230ab546f7c7de61f6cfba01cb7de?utm_source=hbfeatures&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=aug30_19). It may take 48 hours to complete the unsubscribe process. Contact subscription@hypebeast.com for assistance on any enquiries. Our Mailing Address: HYPEBEAST, 10F, KC 100, 100 Kwai Cheong Road, Kwai Chung, Hong Kong