Die Antwoord

In tutorials this week Suzanne showed us a video clip of South African hip-hop duo Die Antwoord's song Enter The Ninja. As a Die Antwoord fan I had never thought about their music along racial and cultural lines before. Although hip-hop is widely considered as a musical form of expression of oppressed cultural groups (originating in New York City and being disseminated and appropriated by various groups and cultures all around the globe) it seems that with the trajectory of the music industry and its interest in making money, hip-hop as a music, style and way of life has transcended ethnic and racial lines and has now become widely recognised window of self-expression for almost anyone. It is no longer unusual or inauthentic to be a white rapper or a hip-hop artist from a non-African-American background as long as the stories told through your music are that of some kind of struggle in the face of adversity.

Seeing Die Antwoord's video Enter the Ninja again reminded me that all cultural forms of expression are valid in that they tell a story and mediate the reality of cultural difference we encounter everyday around us. this is evident at the beginning of the song when Ninja the lead singer says "100% South African Culture, in this place (South Africa) there's a lotta different thing, blacks, whites, coloureds, English, Afrikaans, Xhosa, Zulu, all these different things, all these different people...put into one person. I think what Ninja is reinforcing here is that particular cultures identify themselves in relation to other cultures that surround them is, in fact, a normal thing for people to do- identifying youself not by what you are but what you are not. What Ninja highlights when he says "all these different people...put into one person" is the fact that you can't choose who you are or where you come from but difference is inherent and we internalise our racial identity and express it in so many different ways. Die Antwoord identify themselves through their music personas as 'zefs', a South African equivalent to a redneck. However, I think Ninja plays upon this stereotype because he understands that they are just stereotypes that provide a platform for their quite often absurd, shocking, and comical performances- they are there to be noticed- and to break the mould of what hip-hoppers are commonly thought to be and represent. Aswell as being widely recognised as quirky and strange they are also have political message within their music which alludes to South Africa's rich and diverse cultural landscape and the social and political problems that pervade everyday life. Racism still exists, but it is how we choose to talk about it and analyse its intricacies that is of importance, and Die Antwoord do this through their music in a memorable and thought provoking way.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cegdROGiJl4

http://pitchfork.com/7766-die-antwoord/