Die Antwoord makes me feel rather stupid

by on February 06, 2010 | 23 Comments

I know there is a lot of ironic self-deprecating music artists out there who sound dumb as a kind of in-joke with the audience, and then there are genuinely stupid people who just make it big based on being so painfully dumb. What really starts to trip me up is when there’s foreign aspects; add some exotic slang and fashion into the mish mash and I might actually think someone is as stupid as they sound. So when I watched Die Antwoord’s weird ass fashion and talking, I gotta say I thought it was some weird internet joke video.

Until the hook comes in, then you realize how brilliant the gag is. I still don’t know what Die Antwoord or Zef Side is, but I’m curious about what they’ll do next. Watch the vid after the jump

PRETTY WISE!

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  • http://intensedebate.com/people/Earsucker Roberta

    They should open up for Lady Gaga, it would be better than Semi Precious Weapons, who SUCK.

  • lola

    Are they "quiet stupid," mole? ha. wow. I think I've discovered another emerging group who are "quiet stupid."

  • ladygagsux

    open for lady gaga? are you high? these guys are too good for fucking lady gag me. opening for such an act would ruin them.

  • Mole

    You have to take Die Antwoord with a pinch of salt. Max Normal is a South Africa artist, who it seems, has had some influence with this group. The Afrikaans redneck/whitetrash in SA has become quiet an entertaining area of the poppulation, they usually are quiet stupid, especially when trying to speak English "I can like to be wearing a Jean pant and are speaking English deliciously since I are twice" – I like wearing Jeans, and have been speaking English since I was two. This YouTube vid explains it all – Whackhead is a Radio DJ that pranks anyone. Have a look.

    You cant take this seriously, you just have to laugh at these idiots.

    • AMA

      Kind of.

      I would treat Die Antwoord as the equivalent of an 'Alternative Reality Game' in the realm of contemporary world dance music. We should either cast ourselves as fully-involved fans and/or move outside the blogosphere to see exactly what they're doing(art & mass media theory).

      Considering subplots emerging out of Max Normal's past works(see Wikipedia's article on Max Normal.tv), there is a good chance we might see more plot emerge. Hopefully, this plot might transform into a fabricated twine of narrative.

      At this point, we have seen DJ High Tech disappear for 10 days in the month of January 2010, which was mentioned on their Facebook page and the WAT KYK JY website. During that time, 'Ninja' posted an article on WAT KYK JY talking about the previous time DJ High Tech disappeared, which lasted three days(the story is in English and therefore accessible, so I'd rather not ruin it for you or anyone).

      The other new advancement was the replacement of the rather silent and stout, DJ High-Tech, with a new DJ High Tech featured in "Enter the Ninja" and their "Secret" flash page on their website that appears to be an interactive Twin Peaks 'red room.' The new DJ has a name, Leon Botha, who is Progeria-surviving 24 year old as well as a painter, turntablist dj, and even deemed a 'Spiritual Genius.' It's still rather unclear if he was the producer of the music all along and that 'Enter the Ninja' was his first public representation as a member of Die Antwoord.

      Either way, Die Antwoord has announced that DJ High Tech has re-appeared and since then, the entire group have just released and start distributing a new track entitled, "Fish Paste."

      Finally, SaffaStu, the commenter below, wrote some really interesting socio-analysis of the group; however, my post here argues that Die Antwoord is more than an authentic group or an extended satire or parody, this must be an alternative reality music group.

      • AMA

        *DJ High-Tek

      • muckguppy

        I am well behind you on this theory, nice post.

  • Zzzz

    Well, they aren't smart enough to make money out of their new-found fame, it seems.

    http://www.thedailymaverick.co.za/article/2010-02…

  • Aaaa

    actually, they are going to be making a lot of money pretty soon, it seems.
    http://af.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idAFTRE61446820100205

  • Piele

    well I think Lauren AKA Yolandi Visser is fucking deadly hot. She has the sex appeal and attitude to go solo and make it big. Big question is, has she the underlying talent to move from today's overnight sensation into mega star….or does really want that?

    • griffin

      Her name is not Lauren, you idiot,

      • http://intensedebate.com/people/stephenvandyke stephenv

        Be nice!

  • Anon.

    These guys are smarter than they look. If you watch some of their live videos, you see that they are entertainers. They are bloody brilliant, and I'm willing to bet that their entire persona is manufactured. They are either really smart and talented, or someone behind them is really smart and talented.

  • SaffaStu

    I am South African, and though english is my home language I speak afrikaans well and understand it better.

    All I can tell you is that these guys are phenomenal, and they are absolutely legitimate. Yes, they are also satirical, much like Ali G was a satire of supposedly stupid British gangsters, but there is no question whatsoever about the authenticity of their music. Just because they are tapping into a demographic that can be perceived to be stupid, ala white-trash all over the world, the wit and substance to their lyrics not to mention the quality of the beats leaves no doubt about how serious these guys are.

    They are dead serious. But dead serious with an eye for humour and satire.

    I hope to find the time soon to translate some of the lyrics for interested people, as their global popularity continues to rise. They have just recently exploded on the web, with tours in the works to Europe and the US, though I wonder how they will be received without any real context to interpret just what the fuck they are on about it.

    Ninja is Max Normal.TV, though Yo-Landi Vi$$er was also associated with the latter group. I believe DJ Hi-Tek is a new addition to the trio now known as Die Antwoord.

    I would like to impress on people that these guys are not taking the piss out “white trash” South Africans. They are channeling some mad skills through a much maligned and stereotyped demographic in South Africa, one that is not necessarily even white. They frequently imitate the Afrikaans accent that is characteristic of the Afrikaans spoken by the Cape Coloureds (Coloured in this South African context has none of the venomous racial connotations the word has in the US – they are a proud demographic of mixed-race South Africans who generally live in the southern and western part of the country, with bloodlines tied to the indigenous San tribes of southern Africa, the Bantu tribes that came down into the region some time before the whites arrived, the white settlers themselves (Dutch and English predominantly, though pretty much from everywhere), and Malaysians that were brought into the area as indentured labourers when the Cape was under British rule).

    They are bringing much respect and admiration through their music to an accent that is widely derided as unfortunately stupid, s stupidity that is in turn projected onto the speakers themselves, when of course the reality is that the infinite diversity of people whose speech sounds like theirs can hardly be generalised as such (though there are surely idiots amongst them, just as there are amongst all of us).

    All their songs are freely available on their website. Keep your ears open – these guys are the real deal, one of the best things to come out of the South African music industry ever, and hopefully destined for greater things.

    • booser

      well fokken said!!!

      • paco

        ^Wot he said.

    • muckguppy

      yeah, I'm dying to read your translations..

      poes?

      =)

    • Geoff Taylor

      lyrics in English Please -That is the answer

  • Ian

    Absolutely Brilliant !!! Love them…. and Yolandi is so hot!

  • Pip

    i kind of love them. i mean just look at yolinda's hair cut. what is with that fucked up shit? its awesome. what a super fly bitch. also if you listen to the long version of zef side—its like well over five minutes with like 4 or 5 extensive verses—the lyrics are rediculously subversive. I mean anything that can shock/surprise me in this day and age deserves a second look at least.

  • Improper Opera

    check out IMPROPER OPERA's interview with Die Antwoord, hot off the press and pretty bizarre, as to be expected.

    fondly,
    the improper collective

    http://www.improperopera.com/2010/03/die-antwoord…

  • Naaier

    Its a straqnge band but i think it has high potential. What is her real name than griffin? I read something about "Anica" at the fansite…is that correct?? checkit by the way, its poes coool! http://www.dieantwoordzeflings.com She's hot for sure!