Die Antwoord

You’d be right to call Die Antwoord an oddity, but you probably wouldn’t be doing it for the right reasons. What truly sets Die Antwoord apart is the fact that the whole act is a ruse.

Revolving around the ethos of “Zef,” South African slang for “white trash,” Die Antwoord is essentially an amalgamation of U.S. cultural tropes from the ‘90s. The beats sound dated because they’ve got more in common with Darude than Diplo. And the lyrics are brimming with references to American pop culture of yesteryear: Die Hard, 2Pac, “Ice Ice Baby” and Team America: World Police all make appearances.

So here’s what’s strange: Die Antwoord are not American. Nor has American culture begun to revere and recycle ‘90s style—at least not for hip-hop. It’s as though the group are operating on a delay and think the American public still wants to hear the Mortal Kombat theme song. They’re trying to appropriate elements of a culture they don’t fully understand; it smacks of posturing and artifice.

Artifice is nothing new to these two. Ninja and Yo-Landi Vi$$er are a couple of performers from Cape Town, South Africa, who tried out a number of different acts—including motivational and comedy—before striking gold with Die Antwoord in 2010 (the song “Enter the Ninja” from their debut release was a viral sensation and reached the British Top 40). Their second album, Ten$ion, strays little from the formula that brought their debut, $O$, such success: brash, offensive rap vocals; grandiose rave hooks; inane song titles like “Fatty Boom Boom” and “U Make a Ninja Wanna F***.” The only difference this time around is that they’ve brought in some dubstep for the intro and conclusion—apparently now they’re paying some attention to contemporary American tastes.

Nonetheless, you can’t simply write off Die Antwoord as no-talent posers. In spite of the slightly misdirected retro stylings, there are plenty of tracks here that could get a house party jumping (try not to nod your head to the hilariously named “I Fink U Freeky”). Throw it on in the background, ignore Vi$$er’s impossibly obnoxious voice and give ‘em some points for being weird.