On June 12, 2019 Goldlink blessed all music platforms with their new album titled Diaspora. Goldlink did a phenomenal job through collaborations and their familiar flow to produce music that spoke to both African culture and black culture in general.

The meaning of the term when put into context of the African Diaspora consists of the worldwide collection of communities descended from native Africans or Africa’s peoples, predominantly in the Americas according to wikipedia. This includes Africans and African American people.

I am going to highlight a few of the pieces from the new 14 song, 40 minute album that landed their lucky spot in my top five. Surprisingly all of the fan favorites consist of featured tracks, showing that Goldlink does their best work when collaborating with other creators.

Don’t get me wrong, the other tracks have major potential and fit into the predictable sector of Goldlink’s vibe. For instance, their song “More” has a fantastic rhythm and back track. Still it is simple to see that the dynamic is not nearly as fluctuated as their featured tracks.

Days Like This (feat. Khalid)

This song is the most somber out of the bunch with a lonely drive type of feeling. You can never go wrong with a solid Khalid bridge. Combine that with repetitive mention of the word “sense” and you have the song in a nutshell.

     What makes this song so great is the lyric “heard she copped a whip, but can’t pay her rent. That don’t make sense.” The beats simplicity still has moments where it fades behind the melody to enhance Goldlink’s verses.

Zulu Screams (feat. Maleek Berry & Bibi Bourelly)

A vivid dedication to the African in African Diaspora, this song has the most personality and spunk than any other track from the album. The introduction includes literal screams from the Bantu ethnic group from South Africa.

This fast paced song thrives off of its Afrocentric beat. The dynamic is complex, and not that hard to understand through a thick African accent.

U Say (feat. Tyler, The Creator & Jay Prince)

Tyler killed it in this track. A plethora of metaphorical verses and the lyric “why waste time” tat bridges the song together incorporate the rappers familiar flow that became noticeable since Flower Boy.

This song is perfect for young gentlemen who do not want to commit at that stage in their lives. It can give them an excuse to use women for the mere reason of partying and less respectful of female modesty. Still bumps though…

Yard (feat. WSTRN)

You crazy kids stay off this man’s yard. This song is getting rid of bad vibes from entering into the artist’s atmosphere. The drums and, once again, caribbean accent sums up the feeling of this song.

I love that Goldlink is taking the opportunity to recognize nationality diversity. WSTRN is an english music collective. Their debut single, “In2”, was released on 13 October 2015 and peaked at number 4 on the UK Singles Chart according to wikipedia.

No Lie (feat. WizKid)

This song switches up the tempo gradually across the song’s duration. “Me no lie” when I say that this song is decent. It lands the last spot on the top five because Goldlink’s verse had minimal to no excitement in it until nearing the end.

Goldlink’s sophomore album shows progress from his previous album, however, only time will tell how comparable sales will be.