Die Antwoord is South Africa’s biggest music export for 2010. The scraggy Zef group, which consists of Ninja, Yo-lande Vi$$er and DJ Hi-Tek, hit the big time with their single “Enter the Ninja”. The song dominated South African airwaves, but also had major international success in the US, Australia and all across Europe. They stole the show at the Coachella Californian music festival, with the LA Times, NY Times and Dita von Teese singing their praises. Katy Perry has quoted their lyrics on Twitter and UK actor Nick Frost (Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz) has also tweeted his Die Antwoord fanaticism.
That is not all. The music video for “Enter the Ninja” was the most watched YouTube clip by South Africans in 2010. According to Memeburn, as of 13 December 2010, it amassed an impressive 8.6 million views. Their follow up music video “Zef Side” was the second most watched clip, with 5.2 million views. If you want a little perspective, Locnville’s “6 Second Poison” only managed 667 170 views and the dodgy “Show Dem (make the circle beega)”, which was deemed quintessentially South African and labelled “catchy” by some, got 223 944 views.
Die Antwoord have some big things lined up for 2011. They kick off the year with an appearance at Australia’s two Big Day Out shows (28 January at the Metro in Sydney and 1 February at The Palace in Melbourne). According to Wikipedia (yes, Die Antwoord have made it to the all-powerful, all-seeing global answer to everything), they will also be working on a feature film called The Answer and could (possibly) release their second album.
In case you’re interested, Memeburn lists some of the other popular South African clips on YouTube:
- Don’t touch me on my studio: AWB secretary-general Andre Visage upsets eNews anchor Chris Maroleng shortly after AWB leader Eugene Terreblanche was murdered: 338 438 views.
- British agents: Julius Malema summarily dismisses a BBC journalist: 174 684.
Jade Scully is a copywriter excited about writing copy and stories, blogging about the world and editing. She currently and regularly publishes her stories on a number of blogs. Jade loves animals and hopes to begin writing copy for the animal rescue charity TEARS as her contribution to the cause.
