Die Antwoord is a rave-rap duo from South Africa who bring a unique style to their hip-hop while their past completely mysterious. The duo consists of Ninja and Yo-Landi Vi$$er, who both alternate between rapping and singing on each song. Ninja seems to be the driving force behind Die Antwoord, his thick accent acting as a constant reminder of just how different he is from other prominent voices in hip-hop. Yo-Landi’s voice has a similar quality although her rhyming is sugarcoated by her childish voice. Die Antwoord spends most of “Ten$ion” defining their views on hip-hop while showing exactly why they should be revered as rave-rap pioneers.
“Fok Julle Naaiers”, roughly translated as “Fuck you all,” is the first single from “Ten$ion”, and its drawn-out synths exude tension as the sound gets louder and louder until Yo-Landi’s innocently abrasive voice takes control. She mentions her own name before speaking in a different language, most likely Afrikaan, before Ninja delivers the strongest rhymes of his career. His lines aren’t over-saturated puns or references to anything but himself, Hugh Hefner, and some guns, showing the aggressiveness he alone possesses. Yo-Landi continues to interject with the chorus, whispering the title of the track again and again. Finally, Ninja calls out to DJ Hi-Tek, who delivers a boringly ignorant verse, filled with homophobic slurs and unimaginative lines. In reality, Die Antwoord created the persona of DJ Hi-Tek and his “verse” is actually direct quotes from Mike Tyson yelling at one of his opponents before a boxing match. DJ Hi-Tek isn’t a real person, it’s just Ninja rapping with heavy distortion on his voice. In fact, he isn’t even listed as featured on “Fok Julle Naaiers”, although he does appear elsewhere.
Die Antwoord fabricating the existence of a member of their crew isn’t the strangest thing they’ve done. After all, they simultaneously criticize and borrow from pop culture throughout the album. I don’t view them as hypocritical, though, since their pop culture references are always transformed by the context in which they’re made. For example, on “U Make A Ninja Wanna Fuck”, amidst a relatively loud techno-beat, the song quiets down to simple snapping and Ninja’s voice, saying “I think we’re alone now/There doesn’t seem to be anyone around.” These are lyrics from Tommy James and the Shondells, and they’ve been covered a number of times, but when Ninja quotes this line between lyrics largely about murder, it takes on something of a darker tone. He also quotes Vanilla Ice in “Fatty Boom Boom,” altering the classic “Stop, collaborate/And listen” by saying, “I do not want to/Stop collaborate/Or listen,” aiming his disappointment toward the current state of hip-hop. Also, on “Hey Sexy” Ninja references the song “America, Fuck Yeah” from the movie Team America: World Police and Ludacris‘ “Move Bitch” while Yo-Landi touches on Eminem’s “My Name Is.”
Die Antwoord are strangely fascinated by American hip-hop even though “Ten$ion” provides a range of different music genres. “So What?” starts with Ninja asking DJ Hi-Tek to spin “some of that old-school gangster shit,” which seems like an oddly hilarious request given his accent, but he proceeds to rap about his struggle to fame and even admits to being excited about scoring a record deal. Throughout the track, Ninja and Yo-Landi prove their ability to rap in classic G-Funk style, painting vibrant pictures of their experiences and pulling it off. Of course, tracks like “I Fink U Freaky” and “Baby’s On Fire” are almost exclusively fueled by techno beats. Bookend tracks “Never Le Nkemise 1” and “Never Le NKemise 2” combine elements of dub-step and techno, and both songs feature a short melody that seems to be in Afrikaan, reinforcing a sense of South African influences on “Ten$ion”. The track “Pielie [Skit]” is just eight seconds of Ninja muttering something in a language that’s clearly not English. Die Antwoord use different languages to accentuate their belonging to a distant musical community.
Additionally, Die Antwoord’s separation from their label, Interscope, is brought up in the skit “Uncle Jimmy”. The track recalls the classic skits from Eminem’s first two albums, where the rapper would be accosted by Interscope chairman Jimmy Iovine for writing controversial music. However, in this skit, Jimmy Iovine is presented as a pervert who winds up hitting on Yo-Landi instead of listening to her question. Even though I’m sure there’s some frustration between Die Antwoord and Interscope, it’s nice to see them respond with humor rather than animosity.
Overall, “Ten$ion” is exactly what Die Antwoord fans will enjoy; a rabid combination of rave-rap that focuses on swagger, while staying light enough to be a complete blast. There’s no arguing that Die Antwoord are catering to a specific audience but they range from sounding like late ‘90’s pastel-ravers Aqua to Waka Flocka Flame’s foreign exchange students.
