Die Antwood: Integrating their Culture into their Music
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsAPYGTyyOI
Die Antwood, a duo made up of Ninja and Yo-Landi Vi$$er, is a group from South Africa that formed in 2008. Their music falls under a new category of music, as it’s a combination of electronic with rap beats. They claim their music is based off Zef culture, the idea that you can still be sexy and stylish, even if you’re not wealthy. Their lyrics are explicit with their biggest seller being “I fink u freeky.” Besides continually using swear words, their tactic behind the creation of their songs and videos is to be completely shocking and scandalous, because that’s the only way they think they can “wake people up”.
The main vocalist, Watkin Jones, takes on the stage name“Ninja” in Die Antwood. Jones was part of the South African hip-hop scene for many years and takes on a role in his video that is very different from his previous personas while in other bands. In Die Antwood’s music videos, he’s portrayed as hyper and violent, constantly dressed up in outrageous outfits dancing around.
The other rapper in the group, Yo-Landi Vi$$er, acts just as absurd in the music videos. In their video “Fatty Boom Boom”, Yo-Landi Vi$$er is making fun of white tourists by pretending to be a diva on a safari ride going through the streets of South Africa. The “diva” then spots a black local with yellow eyes who is actually Yo-Landi covered in black paint playing another role, while “Ninja” is covered in white powder rapping next to her. Then, Yo-Landi appears as an albino with red paint across her eyes, wearing a red skirt. The video flashes back and forth between the black Yo-Landi and the white Yo-Landi. This stark contrast is their way to emphasize the divide between the wealthy white community in South Africa and the poor African Americans. This video relates to their theme of Zef, as they are making fun of the typical white tourist visiting South Africa while glamorizing the African American’s.
Die Antwood is a new genre of music that is going to challenge how we look and see music. These “musicians” are turning what we think of as music today, into a completely different art form. Instead of using lyrics as the main conviction of meaning, these artists are using the images shown in their videos to grab their audience’s attention