Die Antwoord
$O$ (Interscope / Cherrytree)
Reviewed by Austin Powell, Fri., Oct. 29, 2010
Die Antwoord
$O$ (Interscope/Cherrytree)South Africa's great white hype, Die Antwoord (Afrikaans for "The Answer") is a NSFW riddle wrapped in an enigma and uploaded to YouTube. The duo – Ninja, a skeletal, tattooed rapper obsessed with his namesake, and sidekick Yo-Landi Vi$$er, an albino nymphet who recently turned down the heroin(e) role in David Fincher's The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo – represents Zef culture, a controversial new strain of ghetto fabulous, more viral than a cholera outbreak. The band's Interscope debut, $O$, siphons waste-product off Eminem's vulgar Slim Shady-era, the global grime of M.I.A., and Lady Gaga's shocking performance art, injected with the catchiness of a Dr. Evil parody. The production's no joke, though. DJ Hi-Tek, a shadow third member of Die Antwoord, crafts raves around Vi$$er's pixie/filthy choruses and Ninja's utterly unique dialect and delivery, most notably the theme song "Rich Bitch," while Mad Decent mastermind Diplo turns "Evil Boy" into a 21st century dubstep. Forget 36 Chambers. For now, "Enter the Ninja." (Die Antwoord spooks La Zona Rosa on Sunday, Oct. 31.)
