Die Antwoord
Encyclopedia
Die Antwoord is a hip hop
group from Cape Town
, South Africa, consisting of three members: Ninja, Yo-Landi Vi$$er and DJ Hi-Tek.
Ninja (born Watkin Tudor Jones
) was a part of the South African hip-hop scene for many years, fronting acts such as The Original Evergreen, MaxNormal.TV
and The Constructus Corporation
. He is known for adopting different stage personas. In the case of Die Antwoord his persona is Ninja: a vulgar and aggressive character who is very different from his previous incarnations. When asked whether Ninja was a character he said, "Ninja is, how can I say, like Superman
is to Clark Kent
. The only difference is, I don't take off this fokken Superman suit."
Die Antwoord was later created as a group in 2008, consisting of performers Ninja, Yo-Landi Vi$$er (Yolandi Visser
), and DJ Hi-Tek. Their debut album $O$ was made available as a free download on their official website. $O$ features Cape Flats
rappers Garlic Brown (aka Knoffel Bruin), Scallywag and Isaac Mutant, and Jack Parow
and Jaak Paarl (aka Jaak). In 2009 South African cinematographer Rob Malpage (along with co-director Ninja) shot the video for their single "Enter the Ninja." The video became popular on the internet nine months later, delivering millions of hits to the official Die Antwoord website. Their original South African hosting provider, Hetzner, disabled their hosting account following massive bandwidth overage caused by the traffic following the site launch. The group was forced to move their website to a US-based hosting provider to handle the traffic. The "Enter The Ninja" video also features the late Leon Botha
, a prominent Cape Town
artist who was one of the world's oldest and most well known survivors of progeria
.. Following the success of the video, Ninja and Yo-Landi were flown business class to Los Angeles where they signed record deal with Interscope Records
, home of artists including Dr Dre, Eminem
, 50 Cent
, Snoop Dogg
, Marilyn Manson
and Lady Gaga
. In April 2010, Die Antwoord performed their first international concert at the Coachella Music Festival in Palm Springs, California, in front of 40,000 people.
Following this, Die Antwoord went on to perform songs from their debut album, $O$, over the United States (New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Detroit, Boston, Philadelphia, Texas, Nashville, Washington D.C, Baltimore, Seattle, Portland, and Atlanta). They went on to perform in Canada
, UK, Germany
, Austria
, Switzerland
, Norway
, Finland
, France
, Spain
, Belgium
, The Netherlands, Hungary
, Sweden
, Denmark
, Czech Republic
, Serbia
, Poland
, New Zealand
, Australia
, and Japan
.
At the end of 2010, Die Antwoord won the Myspace
'Best Music Video of 2010' award for their debut video, Enter The Ninja.
elements and references. According to the band, Zef is a South African slang term that describes a unique South African style which is modern and trashy and also includes out-of-date, discarded cultural and style elements. Both Ninja and Yolandi have offered definitions of zef. Yolandi was quoted as saying, "It's associated with people who soup their cars up and rock gold and shit. Zef is, you're poor but you're fancy. You're poor but you're sexy, you've got style." Their lyrics are performed in Afrikaans, Xhosa
, and English.
In an interview with Exclaim!
magazine, the group revealed they have a five album plan. According to Ninja, "We'll be dropping films between each of the albums, feature films... We have one we're working on for next year called The Answer. It's like the story of how Die Antwoord started. But that's like, our power, and where our energy is at right now" In another interview with Mother Jones
magazine, the group mentioned that they already had most of the musical hooks written for a second album, tentatively titled Tension.
They have filmed a short film for the song "Wat Kyk Jy?" (Afrikaans for "What Are You Looking At?") with American filmmaker Harmony Korine
. The short film premiered at SXSW as "Umshini Wam" and features "furry costumes, wheelchairs, a music video breakdown, and plenty of zef slang". The film is available online.
The single Evil Boy contained a verse by guest vocalist Wanga (a Xhosa
rapper) in his native language, which rejects the traditional Xhosa passage to manhood achieved in part by circumcision, electing to remain uncircumcised; thus an "evil boy for life". The video has garnered over 5.1 million views as of 12 Oct 2011.
The band began touring Europe in April 2010 and the USA and Canada later that same year. Shortly after, they joined the 2011 Big Day Out
circuit which took them to New Zealand and Australia to much commercial success, sharing back-to-back, sold-out sideshows with English artist M.I.A.
.
EP singles
Singles
Hip hop
Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...
group from Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
, South Africa, consisting of three members: Ninja, Yo-Landi Vi$$er and DJ Hi-Tek.
Background
Die Antwoord lead vocalistLead vocalist
The lead vocalist is the member of a band who sings the main vocal portions of a song. They may also play one or more instruments. Lead vocalists are sometimes referred to as the frontman or frontwoman, and as such, are usually considered to be the "leader" of the groups they perform in, often the...
Ninja (born Watkin Tudor Jones
Watkin Tudor Jones
Watkin Tudor Jones , currently known by his stage name Ninja, is a South African rapper, record producer, performance artist and satirist...
) was a part of the South African hip-hop scene for many years, fronting acts such as The Original Evergreen, MaxNormal.TV
MaxNormal.TV
MaxNormal.TV was a South African four-piece electronic/hip-hop outfit formed in 2001 which eventually evolved into Die Antwoord.-Early days:...
and The Constructus Corporation
The Constructus Corporation
The Constructus Corporation was an electronic / hip hop act from Cape Town, South Africa, that started in early 2002 and had disbanded by mid-2003, leaving the one-of-a-kind concept album / book The Ziggurat as legacy.-Formation of the band:...
. He is known for adopting different stage personas. In the case of Die Antwoord his persona is Ninja: a vulgar and aggressive character who is very different from his previous incarnations. When asked whether Ninja was a character he said, "Ninja is, how can I say, like Superman
Superman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
is to Clark Kent
Clark Kent
Clark Kent is a fictional character created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. Appearing regularly in stories published by DC Comics, he debuted in Action Comics #1 and serves as the civilian and secret identity of the superhero Superman....
. The only difference is, I don't take off this fokken Superman suit."
Die Antwoord was later created as a group in 2008, consisting of performers Ninja, Yo-Landi Vi$$er (Yolandi Visser
Yolandi Visser
Yolandi Visser is a South African singer/rapper who co-fronts the rap group Die Antwoord. She was also part of notable music and art groups MaxNormal.TV and The Constructus Corporation.She has a child with Watkin Tudor Jones, named Sixteen Jones...
), and DJ Hi-Tek. Their debut album $O$ was made available as a free download on their official website. $O$ features Cape Flats
Cape Flats
The Cape Flats is an expansive, low-lying, flat area situated to the southeast of the central business district of Cape Town. To many people in Cape Town, the area is known simply as 'The Flats'....
rappers Garlic Brown (aka Knoffel Bruin), Scallywag and Isaac Mutant, and Jack Parow
Jack Parow
Zander Tyler, better known by his stage name Jack Parow is a South African Afrikaans rapper from Bellville in the Western Cape. He is well known for his contribution to the song Die Vraagstuk with Die Heuwels Fantasties. He also performed with Die Heuwels Fantasties at Oppikoppi 2009...
and Jaak Paarl (aka Jaak). In 2009 South African cinematographer Rob Malpage (along with co-director Ninja) shot the video for their single "Enter the Ninja." The video became popular on the internet nine months later, delivering millions of hits to the official Die Antwoord website. Their original South African hosting provider, Hetzner, disabled their hosting account following massive bandwidth overage caused by the traffic following the site launch. The group was forced to move their website to a US-based hosting provider to handle the traffic. The "Enter The Ninja" video also features the late Leon Botha
Leon Botha
Leon Botha was a South African painter, and musical performer, as well as one of the world's oldest survivors of progeria.-Biography:...
, a prominent Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
artist who was one of the world's oldest and most well known survivors of progeria
Progeria
Progeria is an extremely rare genetic condition wherein symptoms resembling aspects of aging are manifested at an early age. The word progeria comes from the Greek words "pro" , meaning "before", and "géras" , meaning "old age"...
.. Following the success of the video, Ninja and Yo-Landi were flown business class to Los Angeles where they signed record deal with Interscope Records
Interscope Records
Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that currently operates as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group.-History:...
, home of artists including Dr Dre, Eminem
Eminem
Marshall Bruce Mathers III , better known by his stage name Eminem or his alter ego Slim Shady, is an American rapper, record producer, songwriter and actor. Eminem's popularity brought his group project, D12, to mainstream recognition...
, 50 Cent
50 Cent
Curtis James Jackson III , better known by his stage name 50 Cent, is an American rapper, entrepreneur, investor, record producer, and actor. He rose to fame with the release of his albums Get Rich or Die Tryin and The Massacre . Get Rich or Die Tryin has been certified eight times platinum by...
, Snoop Dogg
Snoop Dogg
Calvin Cordozar Broadus, Jr. , better known by his stage name Snoop Dogg, is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Snoop is best known as a rapper in the West Coast hip hop scene, and for being one of Dr. Dre's most notable protégés. Snoop Dogg was a Crip gang member while in high school...
, Marilyn Manson
Marilyn Manson
Marilyn Manson may refer to:* Marilyn Manson , an American rock musician* Marilyn Manson , the American rock band led by the singer of the same name...
and Lady Gaga
Lady GaGa
Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta , better known by her stage name Lady Gaga, is an American singer and songwriter. Born and raised in New York City, she primarily studied at the Convent of the Sacred Heart and briefly attended New York University's Tisch School of the Arts before withdrawing to...
. In April 2010, Die Antwoord performed their first international concert at the Coachella Music Festival in Palm Springs, California, in front of 40,000 people.
Following this, Die Antwoord went on to perform songs from their debut album, $O$, over the United States (New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Detroit, Boston, Philadelphia, Texas, Nashville, Washington D.C, Baltimore, Seattle, Portland, and Atlanta). They went on to perform in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, UK, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
, Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, The Netherlands, Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
, Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, and Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
.
At the end of 2010, Die Antwoord won the Myspace
Myspace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
'Best Music Video of 2010' award for their debut video, Enter The Ninja.
Music
Die Antwoord performs music which incorporates many ZefZef
Zef is a South African counter-culture movement. Die Antwoord's personas are said to have it influence their style.- Origin of the term :The word zef stems from an Afrikaans word, which roughly translates to the English word "common"...
elements and references. According to the band, Zef is a South African slang term that describes a unique South African style which is modern and trashy and also includes out-of-date, discarded cultural and style elements. Both Ninja and Yolandi have offered definitions of zef. Yolandi was quoted as saying, "It's associated with people who soup their cars up and rock gold and shit. Zef is, you're poor but you're fancy. You're poor but you're sexy, you've got style." Their lyrics are performed in Afrikaans, Xhosa
Xhosa language
Xhosa is one of the official languages of South Africa. Xhosa is spoken by approximately 7.9 million people, or about 18% of the South African population. Like most Bantu languages, Xhosa is a tonal language, that is, the same sequence of consonants and vowels can have different meanings when said...
, and English.
In an interview with Exclaim!
Exclaim!
Exclaim! is a monthly Canadian music magazine that features in-depth coverage of new music across all genres with special focus on Canadian and cutting-edge artists...
magazine, the group revealed they have a five album plan. According to Ninja, "We'll be dropping films between each of the albums, feature films... We have one we're working on for next year called The Answer. It's like the story of how Die Antwoord started. But that's like, our power, and where our energy is at right now" In another interview with Mother Jones
Mother Jones (magazine)
Mother Jones is an American independent news organization, featuring investigative and breaking news reporting on politics, the environment, human rights, and culture. Mother Jones has been nominated for 23 National Magazine Awards and has won six times, including for General Excellence in 2001,...
magazine, the group mentioned that they already had most of the musical hooks written for a second album, tentatively titled Tension.
They have filmed a short film for the song "Wat Kyk Jy?" (Afrikaans for "What Are You Looking At?") with American filmmaker Harmony Korine
Harmony Korine
The story is told from the perspective of a young man suffering from untreated schizophrenia, played by Ewen Bremner, as he tries to understand his deteriorating world. Julien's abusive father is played by Werner Herzog...
. The short film premiered at SXSW as "Umshini Wam" and features "furry costumes, wheelchairs, a music video breakdown, and plenty of zef slang". The film is available online.
The single Evil Boy contained a verse by guest vocalist Wanga (a Xhosa
Xhosa
The Xhosa people are speakers of Bantu languages living in south-east South Africa, and in the last two centuries throughout the southern and central-southern parts of the country....
rapper) in his native language, which rejects the traditional Xhosa passage to manhood achieved in part by circumcision, electing to remain uncircumcised; thus an "evil boy for life". The video has garnered over 5.1 million views as of 12 Oct 2011.
The band began touring Europe in April 2010 and the USA and Canada later that same year. Shortly after, they joined the 2011 Big Day Out
Big Day Out
The Big Day Out is an annual music festival held in several cities in Australia and New Zealand in late January. It started in Sydney in 1992, spread to Adelaide, Melbourne and Perth by 1993, with the Gold Coast and Auckland joining in 1994...
circuit which took them to New Zealand and Australia to much commercial success, sharing back-to-back, sold-out sideshows with English artist M.I.A.
M.I.A. (artist)
Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam , better known by her stage name M.I.A. , is an English singer-songwriter, rapper, record producer, painter and director of Sri Lankan Tamil descent. Her compositions combine elements of hip hop, electronica, dance, alternative and world music. M.I.A...
.
Discography
Albums- 2009 $O$$O$-Physical Re-release on Cherrytree Records:-Re-release on Rhythm Records:...
(MP3MP3MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
, albumAlbumAn album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
, self-released) - 2010 $O$ (revised version) (CD, album, Cherrytree RecordsCherrytree RecordsCherrytree Records is an American record label and is an imprint of Interscope Records.-History:Cherrytree Records was founded in 2005 by Martin Kierszenbaum, being German for cherry tree...
) U.S. #109 - TBA Ten$ion
EP singles
- 2010 55 (Die Antwoord EP)5 is an EP by South African hip hop group, Die Antwoord. The EP was the first official release by Die Antwoord on a major record label, Cherrytree Records . It followed up on internet circulation of the album $O$ and the viral "Enter the Ninja" music video, which featured on a number of...
(CD, EPExtended playAn EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
, Cherrytree Records) - 2010 Ekstra (CD, EP, Cherrytree Records)
Singles
| Year | Title | Chart Positions | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| UK UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
|||
| 2009 | "Wat Pomp" (feat. Jack Parow Jack Parow Zander Tyler, better known by his stage name Jack Parow is a South African Afrikaans rapper from Bellville in the Western Cape. He is well known for his contribution to the song Die Vraagstuk with Die Heuwels Fantasties. He also performed with Die Heuwels Fantasties at Oppikoppi 2009... ) |
- | $O$ |
| 2009 | "Beat Boy" | - | $O$ |
| 2010 | "Enter the Ninja" | 37 | 5 |
| 2010 | "Fishpaste" | - | 5 |
| 2010 | "Evil Boy" (feat. Wanga) | - | $O$ |
| 2011 | "Rich Bitch" | - | $O$ |
| 2011 | "Fok Julle Naaiers" | - | Ten$ion |
External links
- Watkykjy Website which covers Die Antwoord and related culture.
- Die Antwoord Interview with ION Magazine, July 2010
- Analysis of the $O$ album from South African magazine Mahala