GoldLink is taking go-go from D.C. to New York for one of his biggest gigs to date

Of all the sounds rapper GoldLink is associated with, the one mentioned least often is the one specific to the area that reared him.

GoldLink's two releases, 2014's "The God Complex" and last year's "And After That, We Didn't Talk," have been praised for their electric coalescence of hip-hop, R&B and house music into an up-tempo, dance-ready mixture christened "future bounce." But the impact of go-go music, in all of its regional glory, is rarely mentioned. For GoldLink, someone who bounced around D.C., Maryland and Virginia during his formative years, go-go has been a guiding force. As the 23-year-old has soared within the industry, recently inking a deal with RCA Records, go-go has remained an acquired taste to those outside of the Beltway.

With a busy weekend of performances ahead of him at Trillectro music festival (Saturday at Merriweather Post Pavilion) and Sunday at Central Park SummerStage in New York, GoldLink is doing his part to exalt go-go as he sees fit. That involves bringing legendary go-go outfit Backyard Band to New York with him. To GoldLink, their presence is both essential and monumental.

“Backyard is a legacy act,” he says. “They’re like the Earth, Wind & Fire of the DMV in a way. My father is going; he was like, ‘Big G and them? I gotta go for Backyard.’ ”

Although GoldLink’s musical taste was swayed by his mother’s gospel leanings, his father’s love of old school R&B and his brother’s love of hip-hop, he says: “Go-go is the biggest influence that I’ve ever had, musically. When I was at the family functions, when I was at the park, when I played basketball and when I was at football practice, that was my influence.”

But the appreciation for go-go’s warm, percussive waves isn’t universal. So, similar to Wale’s taking go-go heroes UCB on Jay Z’s fall 2009 tour, GoldLink hopes Backyard Band’s company in New York will help shine a light not only on the band, but also on go-go in general. Hits from the recent past like Amerie’s “1 Thing” and Wale’s Backyard Band-influenced “Pretty Girls” have given it national attention and GoldLink believes additional exposure can only help.

“I don’t think it was ever presented correctly,” he says of go-go. “I feel like if [it] was presented better — which I feel is my job — it would be better received outside of the area.”

GoldLink’s next task is continuing to share the D.C. area’s culture with the rest of the world on next month’s European tour, which begins in Belgium. “I just want them to understand our culture a little bit better,” he says. “We can show them better than we can tell them.”