From their Afrikaans accents, wack dance moves, insane videos, rapping skills, attitude, sex appeal, haircuts, fashion, names, use of rats, incorporation of South African references (e.g. tokoloshes, fish paste, racial culture) and the female gaze, there is nothing that doesn’t appeal to me about Die Antwoord.
They are, in the words of Bret Easton Ellis, totally “post-empire”, subverting the now dead empire of polished, divine celebrity. Die Antwoord is trashy, obvious; they wear weed sunglasses and teach their fans to swear in Afrikaans. They incorporate tunes from Mariah Carey and Dance Dance Revolution amidst their beat box raps, and from Ninja talking about his big cock to Yolandi rapping in a spa amidst topless boys in silken gold boxers, they tear the now ridiculous image of the rapper surrounded by his adoring female whores apart.
With the attitude surrounding the likes of Lady Gaga, Charlie Sheen, Megan Fox and Die Antwoord, those who understand that they are at the forefront of the most exhibitionist playing field in the world are pushing boundaries and sometimes facilitating real creativity, actually entertaining us instead of boring us with unattainable divine celebrity.
From Ninja’s schlong bouncing around in his Pink Floyd shorts in “Zef Side” to Yolanda’s gold lamé catsuit in “Rich Bitch’, you can’t help but relate to and embrace their flagrant bravado. The audacity of their name says it all; they are “the answer” and in the words of Yolandi Vi$$er, they’ve been sent to fuck you up.
Die Antwoord - $O$
