Words by Mustafa Afraz // Images by Jordan Munns //

363 days after dropping the standout debut album At What Cost, DC rapper Goldlink dropped into Sydney’s Enmore Theatre for a sold out show.

Thanks to DJs Swell and Kidd Marvel, the crowd was raring to go before Goldlink even set foot on stage, bursting into loose and sporadic ‘GOLD-LINK’ chants while anxiously awaiting his arrival. The dimming of lights was warmly welcomed by an ensemble of whoops and whistles, followed by silence as the opening credits for cult classic film Belly began to roll, carefully synched with the audio from album interlude ‘Hands on your Knees.’ The transition was almost unnoticeable as it led into ‘Fall in Love,’ to which Goldlink entered and truly sent the crowd into full swing.

This was followed by a short pause in which the crowd was asked to fulfil one promise – wild out everytime someone counted to three. A single stage light followed every move as Goldlink jumped ran and danced across the stage for ‘Dark Skin Women’ and ‘Rough Soul,’ after which the lights cut out again. This time, the rapper asked for a show of hands for how many ‘real’ Goldlink fans were in the house, before launching into some deep cuts including ‘Spectrum.’

After energetically swaying around the stage to ‘Late Night,’ Goldlink sent the crowd into a frenzy whilst performing Swindail-produced track ‘Kokamoe Freestyle.’ The lights again dimmed, hushing the crowd as Goldlink introduced breakthrough Grammy-nominated hit ‘Crew’ before cutting it short, just to rewind it to celebrate like it won. To Goldlink’s surprise, his tour manager joined him onstage afterwards to present him with a Gold plaque (complete with a bra a fan had flung onstage) signifying the song had moved 500,000 units in Australia.

This truly was a night to remember, not only for Goldlinks’ artistry and performance, but also because the crowd was able to subdue themselves from pressuring him into a shoey. Well done Australia, and thank you Goldlink.