‘Die Antwoord’ – The Zef Phenomenon

16 February 2010 - 10:21
By Marisa

How to take over the interweb: Are you ready for ‘Die Antwoord’?

‘Die Antwoord’ – The Zef Phenomenon

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How to take over the interweb: Are you ready for ‘Die Antwoord’?

Applying outrageous shock-tactics has been the hallmark of many a music ensemble, but by tapping into their ‘inner zef’ a Capetonian trio has obliterated the boundaries, infiltrating pc computers the world over. Die Antwoord (The Answer) is a dirty mouthful that no amount of soap or water can flush out a comprehensible and politically correct description from. A curious internet surfer is obliged to take it from the horse’s mouth: “Die Antwoord is a lovable, mongrel-like entity made in South Africa, the love-child of many diverse cultures, black, white, coloured and alien, all pumped into one wild and crazy journey down the crooked path to enlightenment,” the group’s website reads.

The rap-crew comprises Ninja, Yolandi Visser and DJ Hi-Tek – think mullets, tight jean pants, bling, tattoos and too-cool-for-school lyrics that shuns conventionality, refreshingly colouring outside the defined lines of society. However, if you are expecting the mellow kitch-and-cool Corné and Twakkie humour or even the tongue-in-cheek naughty raps of Jack Parrow BEWARE. ‘Die Antwoord’ can be construed as extremely offensive, explicit and just plain insane. So those with conservative tastes will probably not appreciate the crew’s outrageous beats and parents would be justified to forbid their tunes from kid’s iPods, Hi-fi’s and computers.

The interweb (as the band likes to call it) has been abuzz with ‘Die Antwoord’ activity as word continues to spread at warped speed across social networking sites. The crew’s notoriety is evident with a following of over 20 000 people on their Facebook fan page, while Twitter has an impressive number of tweets all praising the awesomeness of ‘Die Antwoord’. Pop sensation Kate Perry recently tweeted a line from one of the trio’s tunes, Enter the Ninja and Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst cited ‘Die Antwoord’ as his new favourite band. The crew is a hot topic on blogs and online articles, all trying to make sense of the ‘Die Antwoord’ phenomenon.

The eclectic act has even made the pages of the New York Times recently as its website (www.dieantwoord.com) scored hit after hit to pass the 3-million mark in under four days. The band was forced to move the site to a U.S.-based server to handle the traffic. Their popularity has also extended to You Tube where the band’s music videos truly illustrate why they are the flavour of the week. Enter the Ninja off the $O$ album has been viewed over 1-million times and counting. Their videos are like driving by an accident, you can’t help but slowing down to view the carnage.



Ninja or Watkin Tudor Jones as he is commonly known in music circles, forewarned the world in 2008 that ‘Die Antwoord’ was coming. Yet no-one could have predicted the crew’s almost instant success. However, the question on everybody’s lips is if the band will outlive their sudden rush to fame. Luckily they have the goods to back it up with: Jones is a seasoned rapper known for his work with acts that include Max Normal, Original Evergreens and Fantastic Kill. I am also reminded of %&$polisiekar that survived their share of controversy and overnight success. Their success resonated in exceptional side projects that include aKing, Van Coke Cartel and Heuwels Fantasies. So whether you like ‘Die Antwoord’ or not, the question is how you can possibly ignore it.

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Current rating: 4.6 from 7 votes.

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