Diaspora

Ahead of the release of his official full-length debut album, DC rapper GoldLink launched his Beats 1 show IFFY FM, describing it as “a carefully curated journey through sound touching many corners of the world” and “home to the sound of the black diaspora.” The show exists as a companion piece to the album, shining a light on the MC’s many divergent inspirations, including artists from the UK, Canada, Colombia, Nigeria, and, of course, his native DMV area.

The album is these same musical ideas realized, with GoldLink running his own unique brand of future bounce through the filters of Afrobeats, dancehall, street rap, and UK pop (among others), seasoning it all with the rumble of post-trap sonics. (There is also the curiously titled “Spanish Song,” where GoldLink has buried any semblance of ethnic identifiers deep into warm and cascading synth lines.) The list of collaborators on Diaspora is equally diverse, with features from LA antihero Tyler, The Creator, British-Nigerian producer Maleek Berry, American pop crooner Khalid, Afrobeats superstar Wizkid, and hip-hop bully Pusha T, to name a few. GoldLink has managed to make sense of plenty of voices here, and if Diaspora’s relationship to IFFY FM proves nothing else, it’s that he’s making the exact kind of music he wants to be listening to.