Yugen Blakrok - Anima Mysterium (Album Review)
I first heard Yugen last year when she was featured on the track "Opps" from the Black Panther soundtrack, alongside Vince Staples and Kendrick Lamar. That was easily the best song on that soundtrack but because she didn't release any new material still after that I didn't actively seek out any of her music, so I all but forgot about the quality that she can deliver. Fast forward to Friday 8th February and her brand new album was released and Bandcamp's Album of the Day. The artwork immediately struck me and I went into the album without any recollection of the name or anything she may have previously done. I was struck right from the get go with the fast-moving ambient synths, weird samples and distorted guitar of "Gorgon Madonna". Then comes the heavy bass and retro yet polished beat in parallel to Yugen's rapping that dominates all until the even more sample-laden instrumental ending that utterly blows my mind on every listen. This song absolutely thrilled me on first listen and it just keeps on growing, but the best part is that it's not even one of the strongest cuts here.
With the next song, "Obsidian Night", we are greeted by an even stranger beat and much greater lyrics in terms of the deeper verses and catchy, creative chorus. This song remind me a bit of some early Gorillaz and as blasphemous as it might be to say, I think it easily tops the majority of songs from their first album. The rest of the songs tend to have more of a 90s hip hop flavour in the beats but what amazes me is how amazingly she can craft these songs in unconventional ways that 90s hip hop, at least in the mainstream, would never do. There is a greater focus on atmosphere, the music a sort of grand adventure to accompany the cosmic lyrics.
Those lyrics really do impress me, not just because Yugen only swears twice on the album, an impressive feat for modern rap, but also because of she interweaves the real and surreal, the material and the spiritual, the political and the cosmic. Paired with Kanif The Jhatmaster's epic beats they fuse elements of jazz, rock and house into the more traditional hip hop with sweeping synths, chilling pianos, raw guitars and deep bass. In my opinion the standout song here that demonstrates the quality of all this is "Monatomic Mushrooms", managing to incorporate all the above into one song so potently. This is an eery piece, with quite off the wall instrumentation and en pointe delivery from Yugen, bringing her very best lyrics to the table in their sharpest form.
More complexity is woven into tracklist with the song "Mars Attacks" that manages to manage a syncopated beat alongside the rap legend Kool Keith's verses, which containes so much detail from the production. Perhaps most notably for me is when he says "left and right" the panning changes to mirror this and, with headphones or a stereo, you can hear this and will know that you'll be lost in the music. I also love the breakdown in the ending and dramatic samples that even further emphasis the experience of listening to it.
"Carbon Form" is perhaps the most aggressive this album gets, Yugen almost lashing out with her delivery and the production and instrumental flares at their very best. This is very deserving of being the lead single and could have easily made it onto my Top 50 Songs of 2018 if I'd heard it then. In fact, this far into the tracklist and I realise a problem. Every single song has completely baffled me, blown my mind and transported me into this gorgeous yet conflicted world, a feeling I usually only get with a great book. "Hydra" simply continues this with an almost funkier yet more rock-driven sound, then again with the extremely contemporary "Ochre" with its heavily spiritual lyrics and repetitive but incredibly entertaining beat and synths. Again I'm greeted to a song that gives me no rest, no boredom and no recycling because each of these songs has something unique to offer.
Even on the final two songs the pace doesn't drop, literally or power-wise, her flows as direct as ever and the beats still never ceasing to impress. I'm drawn to the perplexing, abstruse conclusion that this album, this "odyssey", is perfect. Overall, "Anima Mysterium", with all its intensity and complexity, its themes of the cosmos and politics, its relevance and timelessness, its power and drive, its charm and engulfing vibes all result in me scratching my head at how this could happen. Am I really going to do this? Do I have the right to do this? Should I go through with this?
Yes.
It's my blog and I believe in this album, this dynamic masterpiece, this consuming power.
And I am giving it a 10 out of 10.
***
Obsidian Night, Picture Box, Hibiscus, Morbid Abakus, Monatomic Mushroom, Mars Attacks, Carbon Form, Hydra, Land of Gray
Worst Song/s:
Ochre (but I mean I still praised this one as being "contemporary" and "entertaining" soooo...)
"Anima Mysterium"
Yugen Blakrok
08/02/2019
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