Wednesday 24 March 2010

Embrace your Inner Zefness

As I’m writing this I’m listening to Die Antwoord, Waddy Jones’ (of Max Normal and Original Evergreen fame) lank hos, holla 7 alterego Ninja rapping about his tik-kop sexual fantasy “"Beat Boy": "Shaking Your Nice Boobs, I Tell You I Like You, You Feel My Piel” over an classic house, zef-rave “build-up”, cringing, shaking my head in disbelief, at the sheer genius of these characters created.


Reports of Die Antwoord being fake are grossly exaggerated. The fact is: It doesn’t matter. Expressing surprise at this “revelation” is like being shocked that David Brent of The Office is only a character and Ricky Gervais is not really the egomaniacal, foot-in-mouth retard of a boss that he plays (well…maybe that wasn’t the best example).

I digress. What I originally wanted to write about how proud I am that Die Antwoord have emerged and how grateful the country, especially its creative arts industry, should be to Waddy and his crew. This light-hearted, yet sarcastically-cutting, piss-take of your own culture is what I love about South Africa and I see the same thing in Australia, in a differing degree. It makes you reflect on the things we’re saturated with in the news every day and all the so-called “serious because the media say so” crap we’re force-fed and  being able to actually see the funny side of life. This is also a lead-on after watching Wil Anderson at the Brisbane Comedy Festival at The Powerhouse Theatre last weekend, which was equally cutting, crude and hard-hitting.

I see multimedia like Die Antwoord evolving from previous kitsch cultural commentary like Orkney Snork Nie (Waddy would probably hate me for comparing Die Antwoord to them), in South Africa, and Kath and Kim and The Castle in Oz, taken to another level, laid-over some over-the-top synth beats (“DJ Hi-Tek – take it to the next level!”, Waddy’s creatively raised consciousness and affie Cape Flats rhymes ala Brasse Vannie Kaap, interjected with a generous ladling of Yo-Landi’ Vi$$er's buttery, child-like ,but disturbingly out-of-place, crudeness. Die Antwoord are the mengelmoes poespap potjiekos opiate for the masses. They’re what fokofpolisiekar is for the angst-ridden and frustrated Afrikaans youth and what kwaito, when it first evolved in the mainstream in the early 1990s was for many suppressed young black South Africans. Personally, I can’t wait for what’s coming out next, and the fact that they’re taking it overseas is great.


We should all be able to laugh at, and embrace, our own zefness every once in a while.

Check out their fantastic Interweb site and wallow in the brilliance of it all.

20 comments:

  1. Reading your post finally inspired me to actually watch a youtube video of them to see wtf "Die Antwoord" is all about...and there went most of my day!!! Been reading, watching & following links since! Ha!

    To try echo some commenter on one post "I can finally kiss any pretence of taste goodbye. I love them!"

    And as soon as people started to write indepth analyses of them I just thought, "Then you lose the whole point of them".

    Now to send their videos to a few Aussies & see what they have to say about SA culture! Ha!

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  2. Yeah for damn sure! Can't wait to hear what a few Aussies have to say bout Souf Efrikan Culture, Cape Flats style.. Tasteful...to say the least...hehe I love it.

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  3. That's very well written mate! I can totally agree on your way of looking at it. So what if they are fake, as long as you can enjoy their music right? Perhaps you would also like to know about the die antwoord fansite that went online just last week, I like a lot myself... http://www.dieantwoordzeflings.com

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  4. The band is totally fascinating to me, kind of gross and bizarre and unique and weird and cool. Trust Saffas! I love it when people can laugh at themselves.

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  5. I must admit, I have these guys on my iPod.

    I love listening to their "SouthAfricaness". And always makes me laugh!

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  6. Yeah trust Saffas to come up with this. I can't wait for the supposed full-length movie/documentary!

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  7. Doze ah zum trulah wickid beatz mi man! Ma bitch Elay 'n ay be diggin' diz shit big time !! //H-Flow of Da Poo Crew

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  8. Ixnay to da H-Flow! Da Poo Crew can take a beat out of their box I reckon...

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  9. I always assumed they were more than a little tongue in cheek and not meant to be taken seriously at all. That is the point, no?

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  10. That is exactly the point...methinks.

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  11. I entered this site by chance, but I found very interesting. A greeting to all the people who visit this page.

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  13. That's very creative Fonty, thank you.

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  14. I came to this place by chance, but I found very interesting. Greetings to all the people who visit this page... Kuzey Güney

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  15. Hello from America,Not sure how I ended up here at this site ,Happy I did and liked reading the positive post about die antwoord,they our the coolest in in every aspect.Hope there next tour in America brings them to Arizona.

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