Die Antwoord

[GeneChing]

I was going to put this in Kung-Fu Music or ninjas but something told me that this band will be worthy of it's own thread.

Die Antwoord - Enter The Ninja (Official)

Official Website

[Lucas]

ya dude those guys kick ass

pick one and click it. muahahaha

[GeneChing]

I didn't make the connection between Yo-Landi Vi$$er and The Girl Who Played with Fire.

Die Antwoord is opening for MIA, but not for the show I'll be working at the Fox next week. That's actually the week their new CD $0$ drops that day. They are scheduled to play Saturday at the TI Fest, which I wasn't planning to work, but might work now.

Die Antwoord - Zef Side (Official)

Die Antwoord to bush circumcisions
The band's newest member raps about his fears on 'getting cut'
Oct 3, 2010 11:19 PM | By GABISILE NDEBELE
Controversial music group Die Antwoord are more than a just a trio of ''Zef" weirdos who spit and swear and wear pyjamas on stage.

The three-member group consisting of lead rapper Ninja, Yo-Landi Vi$$er and DJ Hi-Tek, performed an hour-long show at the Bassline in Johannesburg on Saturday, and they've taken a new member under their wing - an 18-year-old street child known only as "Wanga".

"We are trying to get him to join our band, but there are issues with getting him an ID. However, we are working on that," said lead rapper Ninja, (real name Watkin Tudor Jones). Ninja has even given him his own stage name: "Evil Boy".

"I've known him since he was 13. Recently he told me that he was 'going to the bush' and explained to me what it was he was going to do there," said Ninja.

"The laaitie sounded scared and told me that he would never be able to go to the townships as he would get beaten up, because he would be seen as a boy and not a man, as he had not been 'cut' (circumcised)," said Ninja.

Ninja, 35, then advised Wanga not to go if he was scared, but rather to vent his feelings in a song explaining why he didn't want to go.

Following that came their new single and a music video called Evil Boy , in which Wanga expresses his views on being circumcised. The video has the young man rapping in X hosa: " andifuni ngencanca yami incanca yami eyentombi qha " (I don't want you to touch my *****, it' s for women only), against a background of e xplicit images of male genitals.

"This video might be misunderstood by people as offensive, but there are children who die each year from 'going to the bush'.

"That's the point we are trying to put across. Just in a different way, with an in-your-face effect," added Yo-Landi.

In the video, which has special effects created by special effects company The Creature Shock which did the effects for locally made film District 9, Ninja sports a latex claw, in addition to his outrageous stage outfits.

"We are constantly trying to look at different ways of how we can create and recreate South African music to be consumed abroad, so we always combine what the international market likes with local sound," said Ninja.

[GeneChing]

Die Antwoord 'Want the Money From Nice People' For Debut Album
by Gary Graff, Detroit | October 11, 2010 11:30 EDT

The South African hip-hop troupe Die Antwoord (The Answer) is about to release its first album, but the group members can already tell you what's going to happen next. And after that. And even beyond that.

"There's a five-album plan," explains group founder Ninja (real name: Watkin Tudor Jones). "Die Antwoord is super pop. It's a pop music. There's a certainly lifespan to it. We want to blow as hard as we can...and then disappear. We will always make music, but Die Antwoord is... finite."

The Die Antwoord "plan" kicked off in 2009 with the free download release of the group's first album, "$O$," which comes out as an official release Oct. 12. "We remixed and remastered all those [original] songs and added new songs," Ninja says. "We didn't re-record; we just remastered, remixed, souped it up for release through [Cherrytree/]Interscope. It's like a souped-up beast about to hit the streets." Ninja says the eight-minute-plus "$O$" track "Beat Boy" and its accompanying 10-minute video have all the answers to what Die Antwoord are about.

Ninja says "$O$" will be followed next year by a second group album, "Tension," which Die Antwoord has "finished writing already" and were about to release independently before singing the Interscope deal. Vocalist Yo-Landi Vi$$er's solo album, "The Voice," will come next, followed by Ninja's "Ninja Dominator." "Then," Ninja says, "the fifth one's a secret." And don't expect the group to deviate from the plan, says Yo-Landi. "We have to stick to it now because it's pretty much inked into my skin," she says. "It's tattooed!"

Ninja adds that, "It's like how Michael Jordan retired as a God and then he came back as a man, which is kind of disappointing to the people of Earth. We don't want to go out like that."

Before "Tension," however, Die Antwoord is planning a feature film titled "The Answer," which Ninja says is "the story of how the group came together," stopping just before it signed with Interscope. A "little pilot" preview of the film should be out in January, with full production to follow.

"We've got this very strong idea of what we want to do," Ninja explains. "It's just not a matter of getting the money; we want the money from nice people who understand us and are not gonna **** with us. To be honest we were going to do it earlier, but we wanted to take our time to do it correctly. We're looking at March-April to start doing some shooting."

By then, of course ,Die Antwoord will have made a live impact on U.S. soil, with a tour starting Oct. 14 in Portland. "Live shows are pretty much like the center of the storm... where the power comes from, the most raw experience," Ninja says. "That's the juice. That's where we hit the hardest. But sometimes it's better to watch a movie than explain a movie; the live show is similar to that, so just come see us."

These guys are so funny. Can't wait for Ninja Dominator.

[Lucas]

they are in town on thursday...planning on going. spendy tickets tho, but a sick venue to play.

[Lucas]

Zeefff!!!!

go see them live.

[GeneChing]

Exclusive: Preview Die Antwoord's Freaked-Out 'Tensions'
By William Goodman on October 20, 2011 4:31 PM



South African rap-rave provocateurs Die Antwoord — the freaky duo who blew up in 2010 thanks to their oddball online videos, debut LP $O$, and a co-sign from M.I.A. — recently invited SPIN to preview five songs tentatively set for their upcoming second album, Tensions, due in January. What did we learn? If you thought "Enter the Ninja" was off the wall, Ninja and Yo-Landi Vi$$er are ready to blow your mind in whole new ways.

Judging by the five tracks, Tensions is even freakier and more absurd (hilarious skits!), yet simultaneously smart and culturally relevant (they capture South Africa's tumultuous political mood in song). Die Antwoord credit the sound of Tensions to staying at home in Cape Town instead of moving to New York City or Los Angeles, as many industry types suggested. "We needed to stay in Africa and return to the tension we had before our success," explains Ninja. "By staying home the acid trip of blowing up slowly faded away. The less that was going on the more creative we were."

Get Die Antwoord's story behind each of the five songs:

"Tsotsi Taal"
This hard bangin' track opens with a group of African men chanting, "You can't stop me / You can try / But you won't survive," in a little-known South African criminal language. "There are different gangster languages in South Africa. This one is a language that was invented in prison during apartheid so the guards wouldn't understand what the prisoners were talking about," Ninja says. The song drops into a blitzkrieg of skull-rattling and abrasive beats, like a Skrillex song on 'roids, as Ninja spits, "I'm indestructible / Gangsta number one / The harder they come, the harder they fall." "We wanted it to sound apocalyptic or like warfare to represent the mood in South Africa at the moment," he says. What's that "mood"? "Everyone is ****ed off because all the ghettos are still ****ed," says Yo-Landi Vi$$er. "Things were supposed to get better, but everything is back to what it used to be." Adds Ninja, "But we can't leave South Africa. We're connected to it."

"The Money and the Power"
It opens with a poem recited in Afrikaans (the official language of South Africa) by a close friend of Vi$$er. Translated to English, it says, "That man / That man is a bird with iron wings / Flies branch to branch in search of work and money / He's an outsider with privileges / Outsider who disciplines Men / He's a gangster." Enter booming bass, clacking percussion, and ethereal background chanting similar to that in LL Cool J's "Doin' It." Ninja attacks, "Unlimited supply of *****es / Playboy don't play with me." The highlight is a catchy flugelhorn riff: "It's like the song from The Godfather, but set to a break beat. The movie starts with that riff, but it's played in a waltz. It's the ultimate gangster theme." The duo also gives a shoutout to Geto Boys rapper Scarface. "He's one of our favorite gangster rappers from America. Yo-Landi was listening to some old Scarface and she started shouting that hook — 'money and the power, money and the power' — over and over. But then she ****ed it up and changed the lyrics. He sings it in this big, dark gangster rap style. But ours has a psycho-freak-mode pop style to it."

"I Think You're Freaky"
"This is our first single. If you go out and party, this is the song," Ninja says. Amen. This fun, super-pop jam opens with Vi$$er squealing, "I think you're freaky and I like you a lot," over a bumping Euro-trance club beat. Ninja enters with super-fast, Eminem-influenced rap, then hollers, 'Jump motha****a, jump, jump motha****a jump." "When we go dancing we like hard ****in' rave," says Ninja. "It's a live thing more than anything else. We wanted to see how hard we could rush. It was like, 'Let's see how hard we can **** it up with 100 percent energy.' " Die Antwoord cite Belgian Euro-trance outfit 2 Unlimited as a major influence on the track.

"Fatty Boom Boom"
A hyper-rhythmic banger with what Ninja calls "hardcore black African voodoo beats." It opens with an unhinged beat box bit. "That's the only beat box of mine that I've liked," Ninja says. "I've always done beat boxing, but it's hard to do right." The duo rap about their recent rise to fame — "blowing up overseas," Vi$$er spits. "Taking over America blowing up everything," Ninja replies — between tribal "whoa, whoa" chants. "I think it's really fresh," Ninja says of the track. It then segues into a breakdown that's a tribute to smoking weed. Grooving, reggae-influenced dub bass takes over, accompanied by the sounds of lighters flicking and smokers inhaling. Jah!

"Baby's on Fire"
"It's some apocalyptic ****in' industrial rave," says Ninja. "This is my best song." It's certainly his catchiest — expect to hear this one a lot in 2012. It kicks off with an oddball skit between Vi$$er and Ninja, the latter who adopts a creepy, Italian Mafioso voice. "I just want to keep you in my office like a little pet," he says to Vi$$er. "If you need anything, you come here to my office and sit on my lap. Call me Uncle Jimmy," he says. The Euro-trance beat drops and off we go. Vi$$er chants, "give me a techno beat, a techno beat," then takes the rapping lead while Ninja handles the infectious chorus: "Baby's on fire! It's like a malnia." Ninja explains, "It has a double meaning. 'Mal' means crazy person and 'nia' means a ****er. So, it's 'crazy ****er.' But it could also be a girl that's dancing is making you think, 'Oh ****, that ***** is on fire and ****.' But also sometimes a girl makes you so ****ing crazy that you want to do something bad."

Perfect timing for NINJASTAR 2011

[Lucas]

if you ever get a chance to see them live, do it. really good show!

[GeneChing]

It was a young, clean and fresh crowd. A lot of people let their freak flags fly - a lot of costuming including a lot of gold spandex (Die Antwoord evil boy style methinks), some vampires, a big annoying purple bunny guy, a pegasus/unicorn dude (pegacorn?), a few ninjas and a guy in a Tiger Claw karate gi that he sharpied with Antwoord logos. There were a lot of great tattoos. It was a very visual crowd - fun to interact with.

Die Antwoord had the crowd eating out of the palms of their hands. The DJ was like Humungus in the Road Warrior, who opened with a wicked mix with the lyrics "gonna **** you in the ass!" For a while, dm thought he was just there to flex his biceps to the beat, but he did deliver in the end. Ninja seems like a caricature white trash South Afrikaaner - or zef as he calls it. He's can spit lyrics well, and is especially good at shouting the word '****' and opened with an old skool back flip stage dive. Yolandi Visser is this tiny screeching elf - she's rather grating actually and should stick to singing over rapping.

Die Antwoord wasn't as impressing as I'd hoped. But they did rock their finale, which was Enter the Ninja, of course, enough so that I'd check them out again if it met with my schedule.