Whoops, I meant DJ Leon Botha, not Hi-Tek.
Whoops, I meant DJ Leon Botha, not Hi-Tek.
It seems to me that there’s more a disagreement about how to define Die Antword more than anything. Just because he isn’t playing up the Ninja persona in this video doesn’t take away his credibility as a musician or the credibility of the character for that matter. In the same way that Snoop Dog is sure to work in made up words like Nizzle Forizzle Shindizzle when he’s making an appearance on Martha Stewart, so too is Waddy Jones creating and upholding a persona. There’s a lot of that in rap and hip hop. It’s part of the gig. No, he’s not some poor kid who made it out of the slums with his music. That’s a common persona that many rap and hip hop artists can’t actually attest to. Even in this video, what is he doing? He’s free-styling on top of a mountain. Waddy Jones is an individual with interests in many areas of art, but to say the vibe and persona of the group is fabricated would be less inaccurate than it would be naive. No shit they aren’t actually this insane, but that doesn’t mean one should assume irony in their work. And to be honest, it’s not all quite as fabricated as many people make out. Why not look more into DJ Hi-Tek (RIP) and then try telling me that they’re nothing but a put on. People who say that it’s a put on need to learn how the music industry works. Look at Lady Gaga for instance. How different do you think her popularity would be without her persona? She’d be WAY less popular, because that’s part of what she’s selling. This isn’t to say Die Antword is selling out. It’s all part of the art. They’ve got two albums and have been playing for years. Saying that they aren’t musicians because their personas were fabricated is a pointless claim. They’re musicians and that’s all there is to it. Sorry if this merits a TLDR. I sort of just kept on typing.
I don’t know why so many people have this strange misconception. It’s not a joke and they’re not art students. They’ve been doing hip hop in Africa for many years, but didn’t hit it big till “Enter the Ninja.”
Awesome video, though he is actually pretty accurate and also not drunk.
Go check the youtube video again. Now it has over 500,000 down votes.
Don’t forget this lovely number (though technically not a part of the show)
You sure this was Banksy? I kind of doubt it. It doesn’t seem much like his work at all.
I don’t quite see anything hipster about him…
Furbys feel pain.