The track’s strobe-like techno beat flutters around a deep buzzing bass line that’s as catchy and easy to remember as Vi$$er’s playful hook. The latter is the song that introduced most of us to Die Antwoord from the beginning, and it continues to be the track that best characterizes this “zef” culture that permeates their brand of hip-hop. In 2009, Ninja, Vi$$er, and the obscure DJ Hi-Tek self-released a preliminary version of their first LP $O$ on their website that featured many prominent names in the relatively small South African hip hop circuit before making the video that would ultimately springboard them all the way to Coachella.ĥ, Die Antwoord’s first release on Interscope, is a bit of a sampler as the group prepares to release their first proper full length on it you’ll find three untouched tracks from 2009’s preliminary version of $O$ (which is still streaming on their site), a more recent track released earlier this year, and a remix of “Enter the Ninja” by DJ Fishsticks. Lead vocalist Watkin Tudor Jones, aka Ninja, had been fixed in the South African hip-hop scene well before Die Antwoord, notably leading groups such as and The Constructus Corporation, even pairing with fellow Cape Town native and Antwoord seductress Yo-Landi Vi$$er in the process. The nature of Die Antwoord’s path to success isn’t necessarily from the realm of the unknown in the era of Biebers and Boyles, but it’s more so the culture where they have been embedded for years that helps to sustain a certain air of mystery that surrounds their authenticity.
Admit it, when you first saw the video for “Enter the Ninja,” you smirked, maybe even cringed, shook your head and wondered, “what the hell?” Some of you turned away and never looked back, but according to this trio’s meteoric rise through internet obscurity to landing a contract at Interscope in just about a year, many of you asked for more – many, many of you.
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