I am usually a little late to the party when it comes to internet phenomenons. I’ve only been distantly aware of Die Antwoord for a while, never giving them much extended thought outside of their once-popular-meme-status. I think they are actually really hilarious, but I guess it’s in a distantly foreign and weirdly tacky Vanilla Ice-esque sense. It makes me laugh in the same way I spot random ’90s vestiges of hip hop “cool” in Eastern European white guys. Think “Everything Is Illuminated” or “Night Watch”:
Anyway, my point is: My amusement of Die Antwoord–at least from a distant first-impression–comes from seeing how their style of ‘cool’ is a parody of a delayed ingestion and reconfiguration of our own very-out-dated-American-consumerist-notions-of-’90s-hip-hop-cool. Parodying the Poser. Obviously, these “weirdly foreign” white guys aren’t authentic, but maybe neither was our own version of authentic hip-hop. Die Antwoord–the Answer–is an answer to the kinds of ideas that the American-consumerist machine expounds on the world, and how they answer it back to us in ways that we perceive as odd or miscommunicated (“Die Antwoord: Taking over the Interweb”, suggesting that these “backwards” Africans don’t quite comprehend the modern conventions of simple words like the Internet). They are accepting the challenge, with dick in hand and a tough-looking-rabid-Kesha-esque-auto-tune chick on back up vocals. They are Ninja, Yo-Landi Vi$$er, and DJ Hi-Tek. I think it’s funny because it fits pretty nicely into this ’90s nostalgia/revival that is kind of happening right now.
Anyway!!! I came across Die Antwoord today in my Intro to Literary Theory class at BK taught by the fabulous Namwali Serpell. They came up in our discussion of racial theory and performativity in relation to the politics of apartheid in South Africa and pop culture like “District 9″. We watched a couple of their music videos. I was mostly just excited that we were giving serious academic consideration to such a rap-act. (My eyes were opened, though. I mean, I wrote an extended post about them right now, shit!!)
I think they are funny at parodying the poser. Yo-Landi Vi$$er gets her hair cut by her mom and Ninja lives with his mom and dad. Yeah, super cool! But they pull it off. Also, I realized that I had one of their songs in my itunes!! Orinoko Ninja Flow!!! damn, this piece is hot!!! Lol, I haven’t really said how much I love Enya on this blog, but this battle with Die Antwoord genuinely improves on it. It’s a right jam, if not a personal jam of mine before.
mp3: Die Antwoord, “Orinoko Ninja Flow (Wedding DJs Remix)“
Oh and bonus! Die Antwoord’s video for “Evil Boy” directed by Neill Blomkamp. Some freaky shit!
