Pre-Antwoord
It’s Die Antwoord mania in the Czech Republic, as the South African zef-rave trio of Ninja and friends play Prague for the first time. Meanwhile on the Friday Ripple: yeah yeah yeah, been playing this guy’s albums for years... Now that everyone else has caught up, here’s the cash-in: a greatest hits package of “Ninja’s” previous output. Send it to all your zef friends.
If you’re not a regular listener, here’s the Die Antwoord story so far:
* Die Antwoord is a rap-rave band of three zef (redneck) Afrikaners. They’re best friends, and they’re making the best music they’ve ever heard in their whole fokken lives. Psychotic home-tattooed frontman Ninja is a white guy who’s obsessed with the mixed-race gangsta culture of South Africa’s Cape Flats ghettoes.
* Most of the above is not true. Ninja is a character: the latest in a line of bizarre creations by the prolific South African conceptual rapper Waddy Jones. Die Antwoord is calculatedly, hilariously offensive: a brutal deconstruction of both hip hop’s mythology of “realness”, and of South Africa’s own history of fixating upon racial identity.
* Yolandi Vi$$er is Mrs Yolandi Jones. She’s worked on three of his albums before.
* DJ Hi-Tek may or may not be a real guy. He never appears in interviews, and his only biographical information appears in drug-addled blog ramblings written by Ninja and Yolandi. The Friday Ripple suspects that “DJ Hi-Tek” is probably a front for a number of established Cape Town electro/hip hop producers.
This edition of the Friday Ripple explores Waddy Jones’ pre-Antwoord releases, and introduces a few other characters besides Ninja. For example, there’s Max Normal: caffeine-addicted middle class commuter, speed rapper, corporate toy salesman and motivational speaker. And Metatron One: resentful intergalactic hipster, living in a giant shopping mall in space.
The strange paradox of Jones’ career is that, through characters which are so overtly fake, he has created some of the most authentic voices in modern hip hop. His output combines sharp social commentary, tight rhyming skills, and posturing so ridiculously over-the-top that it’s impossible to diss. And, in a global hip hop scene where fake Americana dominates, Waddy Jones is always unmistakably South African.
Of the previous albums, the Friday Ripple particularly recommends 2005’s The Fantastic Kill by Watkin Tudor Jones, and 2002’s The Ziggurat by The Constructus Corporation, both on African Dope Records. (For the sake of completeness, the radio show also cruelly includes the 1995 debut single by The Original Evergreen: stoner rap by a very young Waddy Jones who hasn’t really found his voice yet, and is borrowing heavily from Cypress Hill.)
You can find a full Waddy Jones discography on the South African music website Vetseun.
Meanwhile, you can hear the greatest hits of Ninja/Watkin Tudor Jones/Max Normal/Metatron One/ Yang Weapon/The Man Who Never Came Back/MC Totally Rad/etc. on the Radio Wave Jukebox, under Friday Ripple > 02.07.2010. Here’s the playlist:
Main set - 18 tracks with a Ninja on the mic:
The Constructus Corporation - Jellyfish (African Dope)
Die Antwoord - Enter The Ninja ($O$)
Die Antwoord - Super Evil ($O$)
Watkin Tudor Jones feat. Spoek Mathambo - Reprogram (African Dope/Loophole)
Watkin Tudor Jones - Bang On The Drum (African Dope/Loophole)
The Constructus Corporation - Wakey Wakey (African Dope)
The Constructus Corporation - Metatron One (African Dope)
Watkin Tudor Jones, Jr. - Max Normal (Chameleon)
MaxNormal.TV - Rap Made Easy (MaxNormal.TV)
Die Antwoord feat. Jack Parow - Wat Pomp ($O$)
Die Antwoord – Jou ma se Poes N a Fish Paste Jar ($O$)
Yang Weapon - Nyama (African Dope)
The Man Who Never Came Back - Crypticism (African Dope)
The Original Evergreen - Puff the Magik (Epic/Gallo)
Max Normal - Mr. Eel (Chameleon)
Marcus Wyatt feat. Watkin Tudor Jones - The Invaders Plan part 1 5:20
The Real Estate Agents feat. Watkin Tudor Jones - Super Evil (live) (African Dope)
Bonus section – related artists:
Felix Laband -Sad Girl In Japan (African Dope)
Sibot – Octiv By Octiv (African Dope)
Markus Wormstorm - Fetch More (African Dope)
Sweat X - Jack (Citinite)
Playdoe feat. Chi Chi - It's That Beat (Try Harder)
Jack Parow - Cooler as Ekke (Supra Familia)
Sibot feat. Spoek Mathambo - Bang On The Drum (African Dope)
Also in the mix at various points, soundbites and loops from:
Sibot – Super Evil Me (African Dope)
The Constructus Corporation – On The Way to the Arcade (African Dope)
MaxNormal.TV – You Look Stupid (MaxNormal.TV)
The Constructus Corporation – You Sound Dumb (African Dope)
Closet Snare - Sweet Edith (self-released)
The Constructus Corporation – Long Street (African Dope)
*
“Rappers are stupid.
Very f**king stupid.
But not quite as stupid as me -
I’m the new kid.”
(Max Normal)
