Like so many people (including American rock god Fred Durst, top-of-the-pops icon Katie Perry and Riviersonderend) I have been blown away by South-Africa’s new runaway band Die Antwoord. Everybody who is anybody is talking about this band – and most of the buzz isn’t even in South Africa! Some of their songs have had more than a million hits on Youtube. Their early success is phenomenal. Like many South Africans I can’t totally place them. It is obvious they are taking the piss about the Zef culture in South Africa, but how much of it is real? Their songs/videos are very funny and much of it is staged, but I’m certain there is a lot of reality as well. Who cares? I don’t.
Many South-Africans, especially the more conservatives ones, won’t be impressed by this music. To me many of their songs are too vulgar and over the top, but Enter the Ninja is utterly brilliant and seriously gives me goosebumps when I listen to it. It definitely has strong elements of Marshall Mathers (aka Eminem) and, like some of his music, resonates with the dispossessed. And right now in South-Africa and the world there are many of those. The lyrics are serious (not like the other songs) and describe the fight for survival in SA.
Technically the rapping by MaxNormal aka The Ninja is astonishing. I had no clue we had such great artists in this media in SA. Although subsequently I have now heard Jack Parow as well and he is also damn good. The video, set design, website and all the other production elements are comparable with the best in the music business. Again it doesn’t even look South-African it is so good. The people that created this are serious pros.
Going forward will be tricky: they obviously want to nurse the global audience they now have, but they need to stay Zef and South African. If I were them I’d be careful of being too vulgar (for example “Jou ma se P##s” in ‘n Fishpaste Jar). I don’t think they need the vulgarity, because their music is brilliant enough. Enter the Ninja has lots of swearing, but it is justified, but “Jou ma se P##s” in ‘n Fishpaste Jar” is too much.
Nothing would please me more if Die Antwoord continued with this massive surge; I wish them all the best. Yo Ninja. GO!
Attie Heunis's Journey 
Attie, ek dink nie dis net die konserwatiewe Afrikaanses wat skrik nie – indien die lirieke vertaal moet word, en aan die wereld daarbuite beskikbaar gestel word, sal daar dalk meer as 3 wenkbroue lig!
Gelukkig word niemand gedwing om hierna te luister nie. Dus kan iedereen ‘n ingeligte besluit maak of hy/sy daarmee kan assosieer of nie.
Ek is ‘n gebore en getoe Kapenaar, en meeste van daardie woorde het ek gehoor voor ek skool toe is. Maar die konteks was nie juis opvoedkundig nie. Daarom sal, in my beskeie opinie, ‘n opgevoede mens met respek vir sy mede-mens, nie sulke taal besig in die openbaar nie.
Konserwatiewe siening? Miskien. Maar demokrasie gun jou om dit te like, en my om dit minder te like.
Catchy beat, maar eish, jou ma se **** in ‘n Fishpaste Jar? WTF??
Groetnis
Hehe, ek hou van hulle 🙂
Miskien juis omdat hulle vanuit ‘n ironiese hoek kom.
nee o emel. spaar my hulle
ek vlieg weg
░
Hulle gaan definitief nog baie kritiek kry in ons media. As Fokof so gekruisig was vir hulle publicity stunts… then again, ek dink nie Die Antwoord gaan hulle veel daaraan steur nie.
Ek wonder of hulle skade aan Afrikaanses se image gaan doen. Moontlik, maar aan die ander kant verwag ek nie dat alle Duitsers Rammstein luister nie- hulle lirieke is net so walglik.
Ek wonder maar net wat deur my ouma se kop sal gaan as sy van hierdie lirieke hoor.
“Everybody who is anybody”?
Nè!
Kaneelsuiker, speel liewer vir jou ouma Rina Hugo se Drakensberge van verlange. 🙂
LOL @ Alleman.
Vraag is , het Afrikaans ‘n “image”…en indien wel is dit noodwendig ‘n “goeie” image? Waarom sou Afrikaans se image dan skade ly agv Die Antwoord se lirieke, terwyl Engels en whatever taal nie negatief beinvloed word deur engelse bands met “bar” lirieke nie?
Persoonlik dink ek Die Antwoord maak Afrikaans deel van die global village en doen moer baie vir Afrikaans en Suid-Afrika…baie meer as wat Anton Goosen, wat homself as “die vader van Afrikaanse rock” beskou en bv Steve Hofmeyr en Kurt Darren bv doen. Tussen die video’s “Enter the Ninja” (1 399 599) en “Zef side” (767 144) het hulle al meer as 2 miljoen Youtube hits gehad…dis vermoedelik meer as enige ander kunstenaar uit Suid-Afrika…Afrikaans of Engels of enige ander taal…
Dink van Die Antwoord wat jy wil, foefie of de not, who cares, hulle het die reg om hulself uit te druk soos hulle wil, en hulle het die reg om daarvoor vergoed te word. Net soos elkeen in die land die reg het om vir hul musiek te betaal of nie.My persoonlike opinie? Wel die aanvanklike excitement has kind of blown over for me now, rap musiek het nog nooit in my smaak geval nie… Bly steeds ‘n moerse party trick soms.
Nooit ooit egter mag enige kunstenaar, performer , entertainer wat jy hulle ook wil noem, in die land weer gesensor word nie.
White trash exhibitionism, if I may borrow this eloquent description from another fellow blogger. The ultimate celebration of brazen vulgarity and banality, disguised as music. Lyrics taken out of sewage gutters, devoid of any creativity (if you have to swear every second word, you’re vocabulary is clearly not properly developed). The most disturbing, however, is the fact that a number of people find this kind of music attractive. It does tell us much of the world we live in. Does the South African music scene really offer so little, that we have to settle for this simple-minded drivel? The mind boggles…
Well “boerin”…when last did you have an long and honest look at the South African music scene…especially the Afrikaans scene? On the one side you have the Dylan wannabe’s all claiming to be the “Father of original Afrikaans musiek”, the bunch who sits around dingy coffee shops like old washed out smelly liberals from the 70’s pretending to be better than the other, backstabbing away…..and on the other hand you have the bubblegum mindless garbage waarop die volk so lekker sokkie en suip…
No wonder Die Antwoord was regarded is such a fresh approach…
Neil, ek dink nou nie Anton Goosen noem homself “die vader van Afrikaanse rock” nie – waar sien jy dit?
Ek glo dis ander mense wat hom so noem, en hulle het boonop ‘n sterk saak – hy is al baie jare op die toneel, en baie dinge gedoen wat nuut was in Afrikaans.
Boonop het hy baie uitstekende liedjies geskryf, ook vir ander mense.
Wat Die Antwoord doen is na my mening ook nie so besonder nuut nie, bloot nuut in Afrikaans.
Google “Anton Goosen + Vader van Afrikaanse musiek” , dan kry jy ‘n link na die volgende op http://www.antongoosen.co.za
“Anton Goosen,die liedjieboer en deesdae Gansbaai se bekendste inwoner, word beskou as die Vader van moderne Afrikaanse musiek en rock en as die mees…”
vanaf die Bio op http://www.antongoosen.co.za, so Alleman my bad dus…hy noem homself nie so nie, maar hy noem wel op sy bio dat ander hom so noem. So ek is dus verkeerd….Maar heelaas die storie gaan nie oor hom nie..
En net sodat ons mekaar nie verkeerd verstaan nie, ek verdedig bloot die reg van Die Antwoord om die vryheid te mag hê om te kan doen wat hulle wil. Ek is genuine laaaankal oor die “oorspronklike Afrikaanse musiek debat..”
Neil:
Die Heuwels Fantasties
Fokofpolisiekar
Foto na die Dans
Straatligkinders
Van Coke Kartel
Radio Kalahari Orkes
Wasserfall
Ddisselblom
Bok van Blerk
Jan Blohm
Melktert Kommissie
Jakkie Louw
Joe F
Duskant Ombliksem
Glaskas
Karen Zoid
Winterstasie
Ef-El
Gian Groen
Brasse Vannie Kaap (BAIE meer outentiek as Die Antwoord)
…en dan noem ek nie eers die ander meer gevestigdes soos Anton en Koos, Valiant, Amanda en Coenie en en en…
Nee-wat, regtig! Ons hoef nie in die rioolgange rond te ploeter nie.
NS: Ek glo ook dat Die Antwoord, soos enige groep, die vryheid moet he om te doen wat hulle wil doen.
ek sal nie weet nie en wil ook nie met jou oor “outentiek al dan nie” stry nie.
Ons stem dus saam dat hulle soos enige ander groep die vryheid moet hê om te doen wat hulle wil.Want dit is maar al waaroor dit vir my gaan.
Ja wel, kwaad was nog nooit mooi nie. Vraag is, hoekom. Die Antwoord is…
Stop all the hatin6g
the useless deb5atin6g
its fuckin6g rock an6d roll
an6d i like it