On March 26, 24kGoldn, a 2020 XXL Freshman, released his debut studio album El Dorado. After being selected to the XXL list and having the number one single in the country (Billboard Hot 100) with “Mood,” the 20-year-old rapper has a lot to prove. 

Based on the three singles leading up to the official release, fans should have anticipated a very solid project. “Mood” featuring iann dior absolutely blew up on TikTok, which led to the song topping the Billboard Hot 100 charts, a truly amazing feat for such a young talent. Sure, fans can say that the song is overplayed and “burnt out,” but the song’s catchy hook combined with fantastic chemistry between the two artists, along with the song’s success, cannot be denied. 

24kGoldn receives help from DaBaby on “Coco.” Although DaBaby’s verse was decent, 24k’s hook undoubtedly steals the show on this track. Going into this record, it could have been expected that DaBaby would carry the song; however, 24k does more than hold his own. In fact, this song would have been just as solid, if not better, without DaBaby. Cole Bennett, Lyrical Lemonade’s lead director, must’ve thought the song was a hit, for he directed the music video that now has over 16 million views on Youtube. 

Closer to El Dorado’s official release, a final single titled “3,2,1” was released. 24k wastes no time on this one, immediately singing the chorus as the beat begins. With what at first seems like a mediocre song at best, the second half of the song proves that not to be the case. When 24k goes into the chorus again, the beat suddenly becomes much more electric, a very eye-opening and ear-pleasing feature of the track. However, the verses on the song are average. The hook, similar to many of 24k’s other hits, takes over the track completely, making this a perfect lead-up to the album’s release. 

The intro “The Top” features the young artist informing listeners what life is like for him since he has reached success. He starts off rapping in a slow manner, which eventually leads him to absolutely exploding over the beat where he raps about the lavish lifestyle that reaching success has allowed him to enjoy, such as wearing expensive clothing brands, driving fancy cars, and sporting diamonds. This is one of the best tracks on the entire project: it’s simply catchy and very easy to enjoy. 

The best song on the album is definitely “Company” featuring Future. From the jump, 24k sounds much more serious than on his other songs and is purposefully rapping the hook like he is trying to justify his achievements to all of his haters. Future comes in to help during the second half of the song. It’s Future, so there is no need to explain how he performed. The legend walks all over the beat, and, as soon as it is expected that 24k will come back in to finish the song, Future continues to prosper. Finally, 24k wraps up the song, which will likely lead listeners to replay what they just heard. 

While 24k showcases his rapping ability on various tracks, “Love Or Lust” features the pop star in him. The song is very, very smooth, bubbly, and is bound to blow up on TikTok. Although it is not the best song on the album, it will still be a massive song on the radio and will definitely be the most successful song on the project besides “Mood.”

24k explores the topic of heartbreak on “Empty” featuring Swae Lee. He pours his emotions out over the beat, highlighting the versatility in his approach to his tracks. However, Swae Lee’s verse doesn’t really fit with the flow and vibe of the song; it feels forced, and the song would’ve been better with another verse from 24k instead of Swae Lee. 

“Yellow Lights” and “Breath Away” are both very snappy tracks. 24k’s delivery on both of these tracks makes these songs bound to be big on the internet. Similar to his other songs, the hook dominates the track while being supported with decent verses. Subpar tracks on the album include “Butterflies” and “Outta Pocket.” In no way are these songs bad — they simply aren’t as good as his others.

Overall, El Dorado serves as a quality debut studio album for the young artist. 24kGoldn commands and dominates all of the tracks very well while being supported by some decent features on other tracks. The audience that this album will present itself to will be very wide, and that will be the main reason for the project’s success.

Frequent TikTok users can expect to hear some of these tunes accompanying their favorite videos. If not, the album deserves a listen either way. It does exactly what this album needs to do: prove that 24kGoldn is here to stay in the music industry and will be one of the more successful young stars in the coming years.