DIE ANTWOORD
DIE ANTWOORD
Mount Ninji and Da Nice Time Kid Die Antwoord albums have always boasted a cocktail of salvaged rave, humour, odd rhymes and piles of energy. While Mount Ninji and Da Nice Time Kid still has most of these, the latter has taken a back seat. As Ninja rightly points out, Die Antwoord albums have only usually had two rave songs each, but there’s always been plenty of fervour amidst their more hiphop-leaning material too, something that’s decidedly lacking here. Perfunctory bangers “Banana Brain” and “I Don’t Care” aside, Mount Ninji is much more of a slow-burner. “Fat Faded Fuck Face” moves like jet-black treacle, while “Darkling” is not only harrowing throughout, but also shows Yolandi Visser at her most vulnerable, a side seldom seen. Intro track “We Have Candy” is an oddball mix of opera, nonsensical dialogue and some of the best rapping on the album. “Wings on My Penis” would be a disaster, but is absolved by the fact that it’s rapped by a six-year-old named Lil Tommy Terror. Then there’s “Rats Rule,” featuring Jack Black, which sounds like an intro to an abandoned musical. It’s tempting to say that this is a more mature Die Antwoord, considering the dark and sincere nature of some tracks, but the sheer ridiculousness of others can’t help but nullify that. Mount Ninji lacks the bite that made Ten$ion and Donker Mag fresh and exhilarating. (Zef/Sony)
DO YOU THINK YOU’VE BECOME THIS NINJA CHARACTER THAT YOU’RE STUCK WITH?
Ninja: The big word here is “become,” which is a weird word. The Dalai Lama had this weird quote that was like, “Everything you think, you become.” I thought of Ninja and somehow I was much more attracted to that than myself. I thought “I’m more this guy, who I’m writing about, than me.” I started experimenting with this Ninja thing and then became fucking Ninja.
BUT YOU DON’T FEEL LIKE YOU’RE NINJA ANYMORE?
I was in this normal world and I was too scared to head out into the adventure, and then suddenly, I got the call to adventure and I was like, “Fuck this, I’m going, I’m just gonna leave myself.” So, I left the normal world behind and headed into this unknown zone with all its trials and tribulations and dangers and rewards and everything. Once you’re in there, you can fucking lose your mind or you can win big time, but it’s more dangerous than staying in the normal world. I left the normal world behind, and I will return in September 2017. DARYL KEATING