HHAP EP. 67: Yugen Blakrok on Spirituality & the Spectrums of Human Experience Found in Her Music

Hip Hop African Podcast

Yugen Blakrok doesn't incorporate hip hop's boom-bap style, she has no interest in being the Queen of SA rap, she does not do trap, and she is not interested in being boxed into someone's idea of a conscious MC. Her music has been described as “a mix of sci-fi soundscapes & meditative melodies”. It's definitely introspective and speaks to you on several levels. It blends references to places, times, & themes both inside and outside of South Africa and contains spiritual references that borrow from diverse spiritual systems. Yugen Blakrok was born in the Eastern Cape and later moved to Johannesburg, the heart of South Africa’s music industry. She released her 1st album Return of the Astro-Goth in 2013 and her second album, Anima Mysterium, which contains a cameo by Kool Keith in 2019. In 2018, she featured on the track “Opps” with Vince Staples & Kendrick Lamar on the Black Panther soundtrack. In this interview, she engages in thought-provoking dialogue with our students who really connected with her music, which transcends a lot of boundaries. Yugen's music does not just belong to South Africa but has universal messages that connect on human levels. Additionally, she spoke to us about being a socially conscious artist without the need to declare it, but being socially conscious by being it, not necessarily saying it. The conversation is moderated by Mikal Amin of Words Beats & Life. We're joined at the very end by Phiwokuhle Mnyandu, who teaches Zulu at Howard University. Yugen Blakrok is online at Twitter @YugenBlakrok Instagram @YugenBlakrok Bandcamp yugenblakrok.bandcamp.com