Die Antwoord: Music, Art, Enigma, WTF?
Maybe we’re late to the table. Or the party. Or the party table (Damnit! No more Batman cake!). But we’re dying to know about Die Antwoord, a self-proclaimed Zef-Rap-Rave crew spitting a violent mixture of English and Africaans out of South Africa.
Their music? If the phrase, “Rap-Rave-Zef” doesn’t paint a picture for you – take underground hip-hop, force it through more filth than usual, and lay down a glitchy electronica beat. It denies the string quartet sample. It thwarts the expected patterning of “traditional” hip-hop. Is it any good? Man. You gotta tell me.
Ninja, the group’s heavily tattooed lead MC, explains to an interviewer what Die Antwoord (an Africaans expression) means:
Ninja: The Answer.
Reporter: The answer to what?
Ninja: Whatever, man.
We like them because they support good art (read: because Yo-Landi rocks our world). They’ve associated themselves with the paintings of David Choe. The art on their website is adapted by Ninja from the work of New York photography giant Roger Ballen. The destitute aesthetic of Ballen has clearly played a large part in the portrayal of the group overall.
In the Die Antwoord universe, DJ Hi-Tek makes the next-level beats, because he owns a PC computer. Ninja has the gangster-skills on the microphone and Yo-Landi Vi$$er – the third member – sings, raps, pulls down her pants and rocks the single most attractive mullet that we have ever seen.
Antwoord’s popularity is contentious. Some love it. Some hate it. At times, the Die Antics wear a little thin. The construction of their style starts to show, the seams become apparent. Surprise, surprise…they’re not really suffering artists. It’s a fake. But I’ll borrow an expression. What fake?
Catch them this summer at a number of state-side events. If you get a minute alone with Ninja, ask him for us.
“Wat kyk jy, Ninja?”
Despite it all, if you doubt Ninja is a talented MC, check out this pretty amazing freestyle – shot on location in some dank basement with a bunch of dudes watching.
