Yugen Blakrok – Pedestal (2022) [South Africa]

Focused on self-discovery and rejecting social expectations, “Pedestal” explores how human constructs change over time. Yugen uses the history of civilizations as a metaphor: people constantly build systems and social frameworks (pedestals) that start as grand symbols but end up restricting individual freedom.

The lyrics criticize the modern rat race and the exhaustion it causes. For Yugen, money can buy material things, but it cannot purchase a way out of a controlled system.