At long last, D.C. rapper Goldlink made his way to the 813. After a hurricane and a baby on the way forced postponements, the artist also born as D’angelo Carlos finally brought his signature “future bounce” sound to the Orpheum Friday night.
The At What Cost tour finally came to a close as he performed songs from sophomore mixtape And After That, We Didn’t Talk and his debut studio album At What Cost. Link was originally scheduled to rock a sold-out September show, but life happens and luckily the third time’s a charm. In an interview with CL, D’angelo assured Florida fans, “Get ready to have fun! We’re gonna have a lot of fun. I’m just trying to bring a lot of party vibes to everyone. Bring your dance shoes.”
This held true as everyone in attendance couldn’t help but sway side-to-side, wave hands in the air and jump around as the 24-year-old MC unearthed every electro/hip-hop/funk banger in his setlist. TrapHouseJazz artist Masego warmed up the stage on “Sego Hotline” with a sax on deck and synthesizer queued up to his left. “He’s a tease,” whispered one concert goer to a girlfriend. Dripping in finesse, Masego danced to Snoop Dogg’s "Sexual Seduction" before getting into his set performing more recent hits, “Navajo” and “Tadow.” The occasional saxophone solos were sprinkled in to give us a taste of the young musician’s natural talent.
Goldlink entered the building by setting things off with “Fall In Love,” a bouncy, airy and funky tune, and then introduced himself.
“I came from D.C. — I finally made it out this mothafucka!,” in reference to his many attempts to make the Florida leg of the tour happen. “Hurricane came. Then I had a baby. Now I’m here. So I appreciate you being here too.”
He then began to croon, “Girl you’re a star, c’mon and dance baby” as the pink, blue and yellow back lights went off to the beat, a vibrant backdrop to “Dark Skin Women." The floor bounced to “Meditation.” Goldlink also took a moment to shimmy across the stage, shoulders dancing, as he let the crowd sing along to Usher’s “U Don’t Have To Call.”
With one leg propped on the speaker, Goldlink proceeded to perform cuts from At What Cost. As an unexpected surprise, Masego came out one more time to sing “Late Night," which made Goldlink felt like a sex icon.
“I appreciate that you make me feel like Jodeci up in here,” he confessed. The show ended with Grammy-nominated single “Crew.” It was a solid hour set from Goldlink. Fans probably hoped to hear songs from Goldlink's first EP (The God Complex) or maybe snippets of his latest collaborations with Craig David, Diplo and MØ to end his tour, but the encore of “Crew” was enough to make us feel special.
