Die antwoord enter the ninja album
The boasting shouts of "'EY SEXEE, 'EY SEXEE" on the chorus of "Hey Sexy" are hopelessly awkward, and Ninja's Ludacris crib, "Get out the bitch, get out the way," feels like an embarrassingly misguided attempt at relating this duo to mainstream hip-hop currency- a decade too late. Not that anyone expected subtlety from Die Antwoord, but this is id rap at its worst, and even their excess lacks scope or imagination.īy its very nature, the Die Antwoord project is style-over-substance, but Ten$ion goes out of its way to prove that point. But there's nothing remotely thought-out or careful about Ten$ion. Say what you want about this zany group of South Africans, but attention-grabbing early singles like "Enter the Ninja" at least showed a clever dimension to their sound, with quick-fire raps that were easy enough to get swept up in. But "Never Le Nkemise 1" begins with a blockbuster-worthy bit of string-led melodrama and pseudo-choral vocals and quickly slams down into a- what else?- dubstep throwdown, all fiery blazes of scorched-earth LFO threatening to drown out Ninja's screeches of "that's why we keep it motherfucking gangsturrrrr!"
Earlier tracks like as "Enter the Ninja" and "Wat Kyk Jy?" hinted at big-room ambitions but still sounded endearingly cheap and shoddy. Whatever cultural interrogation Die Antwoord might have been performing with $O$- and it was hard to tell- is totally absent here.ĭie Antwoord abandoned their deal with Universal because of perceived pressure to be "like everyone else out there at the moment," and it's immediately clear from Ten$ion opener "Never Le Nkemise 1" that their sound has gotten a whole lot more. The blunt simplicity of Ten$ion could be seen as the mastery and refinement of a fledgling aesthetic (stupid for the sake of stupid). In some ways it's the worst of both worlds: We've seen and heard it all before, and now it's dumbed-down even further.
#DIE ANTWOORD ENTER THE NINJA ALBUM SERIES#
It's the latest in series of personas for rapper Ninja, né Watkin Tudor Jones, but even with that conceptual bent in mind, it's still hard to process Die Antwoord as an idea, especially on Ten$ion where they replace what made them sometimes intriguing and slightly subversive with tired and tropes and lazy lyrics. If you or a loved one are in immediate danger, call 911.If you're unfamiliar, Die Antwoord operate on the principle of "zef," a philosophy of intentional ignorance and crassness.
If you or a loved one has experienced a hate crime, contact the VictimConnect Hotline by phone at 1-855-4-VICTIM or by chat for more information or assistance in locating services to help. So what is their story, and who are they? In fact there's been quite a few disturbing accusations made against them and their music for some time now, which undoubtedly makes them one of the most controversial music acts today.
As a result from previous allegations of the group being involved in a verbal and physical homophobic attack against a fellow artist, they were also removed from another festival in 2019. And it's not their first ouster from a music event. In the past, Die Antwoord has received criticism for allegations of homophobic violence, racism, and even sexual assault, per Louder. The duo's inclusion in the event came under fire from other artists, who asked for organizers to sever ties with them. They were supposed to perform until several musicians heavily vocalized their objection. The South African hip-hop group Die Antwoord was recently dropped from the lineup of the upcoming ALT+LDN festival in the U.K.