Die Antwoord: Evil Boy


(NSFW, but comically so.)

Update: "Evil Boy" lyrics here.

The much-anticipated new video from Die Antwoord just went live: EVIL BOY, featuring Wanga, a teenage Xhosa emcee, and Diplo.

I heard the track earlier this year, just after the band finished the final mixdown, and was blown away… but good heavens, the video's something else. Beautiful. District 9 prawn arms, phallic idols, abundant junk-slanging, a penis microphone, a ghost-eyed Yo-Landi in a rat jacket ready to rip out your heart. Oh, and a cameo by Diplo.

I think it's likely some portions may be misunderstood, and a line in there will be misinterpreted as homophobic, but the story behind it (Ninja and Yo-Landi shared all the backstory with me earlier) is deep stuff, and anything but. Both the band and Wanga, the young South African emcee who guest-stars in this one, are open-minded about gender and sexuality, it's cool. Lots of in-jokes for folks who are from South Africa, and of the specific culture the guest emcee's from.

So many layers of meaning jiggling around in this thing. A stew of English, Afrikaans, and Xhosa puns. Slang your junk and enjoy.

Update: I posted some comments to the discussion thread accompanying this post to explain what I understand of the video's backstory. Start here.