Jazhra
Pedestal feels like the exact logical music sequel after her previous album anima mysterium. Even deeper, more spherical yet still not too much but right on point. Soul-moving, futurist, yet old-school and dystopian. This is crazy good
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about
Concepts. Idols. Civilizations.
We build and we destroy.
Pedestal is about building oneself and breaking the mould.Growing, expanding and still remaining true to the spark.
Every pedestal crumbles and decays like all matter does
When expectation is a prison with nowhere to run
I refuse to be fettered up, cold as a hired gun
Blaze in the morning like a rising sun
Whether or not I fit the existing image, it's all nines and sixes
Who defines your blueprint of what success is?
This is alchemy in practice: elemental, galactic
Tracing these puzzle pieces from jigsaw to jurassic
Connecting dots till heads explode, rhyme in colour-code
Spit kaleidoscope, psychedelic flow
The crowd's faceless, I'm third round with a crane-kick
That's basic, I'm phasing - aiming at a point till time and space rip
So pardon my vernacular
The mysteries of science form a large part of my character
I hypnotize with written styles, shining on scavengers
Hit jugular, bloodclots call me Count Blakula
Build me up, don't break me down
Said you could build me up not break me down
Said you could build me up not break me down
Don't break me down
Build me up, don't break me down
Said you could build me up not break me down
Said you could build me up not break me down
Don't break me down
I've seen them around the way, they claim they're unphased
When it's time to speak truth they just fail to conversate
The comfort of denial is the bane of our existence
And money can buy a lot but not an exit from this system
There's no ending to the mission, no ears willing to listen
You're just singing to the deaf, your most heartfelt admissions
This rat-race has no finish lines, only souls diminish
Enemies within, they just can't quit competing
Make you a slave to the feeling
This game's got a lotta chains to break before you blast through glass ceilings
I seen em, Kaptin oh my Kaptin I believed him
Circle small like nanobots, cliques I never joined - I had to beat em
Knowing if I loosened my grip, I'd watch reality slip
Out of my hands, I'd rather burn my own spaceship
Float belly up when the stern dips
Morph from a rock into dust when that wave hits
So you could build me up, not break me down
Said you could build me up not break me down
Said you could build me up not break me down
Don't break me down
Build me up, don't break me down
Said you could build me up not break me down
Said you could build me up not break me down
Don't break me down
Build me up, don't break me down
Said you could build me up not break me down
Said you could build me up not break me down
Don't break me down
credits
released January 14, 2022
Produced by Kanif the Jhatmaster
Trumpet by Ralph Louis Smit
Additional Synth by Joel Assaizky
2022 I.O.T Records
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....more
Like so many others, this came like a bolt out of the blue and, even though it's well before payday, I had to have this astonishing album on vinyl to prove it exists. The feel of the tunes makes me feel like the Impressions do, Curtis Mayfield, the big spaces and instinctive horns and stuff drifting in and out. Great grooves and I can see lots of ghosts nodding along to this with big smiles on their faces. At last! Anthony Cottrell
Listening to this a few years on, Chapter 319 feels almost melancholic, a reminder of the time where police abolition had nearly mainstream appeal. The tracks still make me furious at the bullshit cops continue to get away with. dninemfive