Pick of the Week - Yugen Blakrok (South Africa)

"A sorceress who casts hexes with words and sound waves..."

There's no rhyme or reason or master plan to the Pick of the Week. I just feature something I really like. What I really like this time around is "Niacin," a menacing, guitar-heavy hip-hop song by Yugen Blakrok.

I ran across the song recently in a roundup of videos at the Afropop Worldwide site. I wasn't familiar with Blakrok's work, but that's my loss since she's been doing her thing for a little over a decade. Things took an upward turn for her in 2018, when she collaborated with Vince Staples on a track featured on the Black Panther soundtrack.

As described at her Bandcamp page, Blakrok is…

"a sorceress who casts hexes with words and sound waves, Yugen Blakrok emerges from the smoke filled dungeons of rap… Growing up in the Eastern Cape and influenced by the political/militant and spiritual aspects of Hip-Hop, her music is firmly rooted in the mind-set of the 90’s, a deep lyrical and audio odyssey into the world around us, both seen and unseen."

At Bandcamp, there are two albums and several singles listed, including two versions of today's pick, which was released in late 2024. Her next album, The Illusion of Being, rolls out in late May, but is available for pre-order now.

Catch up on Blakrok with this 2019 interview from Red Bull Music Academy. A Daily Bandcamp feature, from the previous year, more or less summarizes what she's about:

Blakrok’s debut album—2013’s Return of the Astro-Goth—is the antithesis of mainstream rap in South Africa. Her lyrics are packed with similes and metaphors that reference astronomy, astrology, and ancient knowledge. “It’s a connect-the-dots kind of game with me,” she says. “I love puzzles, I love putting things together. I enjoy the research part of my job. I’m a curious person. I think that will translate in everything that I do—even the style of writing. Even the movies and books I love. There’s something for you to figure out as the listener, clues to a story that you already know, you’re just being urged to remember it; fill in the blanks for yourself.”