Die Antwoord

Hailing from Cape Town, South Africa, Die Antwoord achieved widespread online attention through the viral video for “Enter the Ninja,” though the project functions as the platform for conceptual artists Watkin Tudor Jones and Yo-Landi Vi$$er to express their “inner zef.” Before adopting the Ninja and Yo-Landi personas, the pair contributed to satirical ventures including MaxNormal.TV, in which they performed motivational hip-hop while dressed in three-piece business suits, and the Constructus Corporation, a hip-hop fantasy project rooted in the comic book Ziggurat. The concept for a deliberately vulgar rave-rap act took shape in 2008, yet Die Antwoord—Afrikaans for “The Answer”—did not begin performing live until 2009. Their first concerts delivered shock value, with Yo-Landi provoking and insulting crowds while Ninja rapped and moved in nothing but his signature Dark Side of the Moon boxer shorts. That same year the duo recorded the debut album SOS and introduced the “Zef” aesthetic that merged hip-hop, electro, and rave sounds. The following year brought viral success for the videos of “Zef Side” and “Enter the Ninja,” the latter featuring experimental South African artist and progeria survivor Leon Botha as the group’s DJ. After “Enter the Ninja” entered the British Top 40, Interscope signed the act and issued the 5 EP in July 2010; that October the label released a revised SOS and supported it with a world tour. The partnership ended in 2011 after the parties could not agree on the lead single for the next album. Left independent, Die Antwoord picked “Fok Julle Naaiers” to introduce their sophomore LP, which appeared on their own Zef Recordz imprint through the Diplo-affiliated Downtown label. In 2012 the non-album single “XP€N$IV $H1T” surfaced, while “Cookie Thumper!” and “Pitbull Terrier” featured on the 2014 album Donker Mag, which reached number one on the Billboard Dance chart and number 37 on the Billboard 200. The duo resurfaced in 2016 with the mixtape Suck on This, positioned as a preview for the then-titled We Have Candy LP; it included production from Cypress Hill’s DJ Muggs, G.O.D. (aka DJ Hi-Tek), and the Black Goat, plus the single “Bum Bum” and the rave-house track “Gucci Coochie” with Dita Von Teese. Later that year they delivered their fourth full-length, Mount Ninji and Da Nice Time Kid, again produced by G.O.D. and the Black Goat and featuring Cypress Hill’s Sen Dog, Lil’ Tommy Terror, and Jack Black.