Die Antwoord - SWG3, Glasgow, 12 Nov 2010
Doing for post-apartheid South African underclass what punk did for UK guttersnipes
With their fresh new Zef style, South African rap-rave crew Die Antwoord performed a high energy, jam-packed line up of catchy rap, indecent exposure and 'next-level-beats' from their debut album $O$.
A crowd of expat South Africans, indie kids and Glasgow neds welcomes cultural terrorists Ninja, Yo-Landi Vi$$er and DJ Hi-Tek to the stage. Die Antwoord do for the post-apartheid South African underclass what punk did for guttersnipes in the UK. Relentlessly transgressing boundaries of taste and culture, they tell the story of contemporary cultural fusion from the perspective of white underclass Afrikaners. Their mouths are filthy, their bodies fast-metabolic energy conduits pacing the stage with raunchy moves. Ninja had the crowd wrapped around his finger, lapping up his every word as he explained some of the lyrics: 'Jou ma se poes in in fish paste jar' translates as 'your mother's private parts in a fish paste bottle'. But, quite surrealistically, people already knew the lyrics in Afrikaans, belting them out for songs like 'Wat kyk jy' and 'Wat pomp'.
Late in the gig a drunk punter threw a can of beer, hitting one of the band members in the face. Ninja stopped the music and demanded the culprit. The crowd lifted him up, passed him overhead, and bayed for his blood as he was dragged backstage. Minutes later the crew was out again and finished off with a pitch perfect version of 'Doos Dronk'.
Die Antwoord is an overnight success twenty years in the making. Pop music is littered with parody, but what makes Die Antwoord's act so intriguing is their ability to blur the distinctions between what is real and what is satire. There's been some debate in the media whether this is a joke band, but anyone present at the gig will be clear about the answer. Here's predicting their success will keep growing as their dirty South African slang rap and pounding rave beats cross-pollinate worldwide.