Die Antwoord – Fatty Boom Boom: The Making Of

Every bit as good as the original vid. Helps to address some of the issues around the “blackface disrespects black culture” claims conjured up by the original music video, without going out of its way to respond to them.

Sure, Die Antwoord are fetishising their African roots, which is a form of disrespect. But they may be satirising the very fetishing they – and many African visitors – are guilty of.

It’s always a pleasure seeing an artist’s method, and here we get a glimpse of Ninja’s systematic creativity at work on what might seem a piece of puerile satire. But there’s deeper levels at work, my blaer.

Die Antwoord namecheck the stars of the vid and credit Roger Ballen for the influence and all. (Check out some of Mr Ballen’s impressive body of work over here, and you might start to see how he’s influenced the group.) For all the zefness and the cultural appropriation, this is some pretty evolved art, but not too consciously so.

…and then obviously the actual video.

Writer for television, print and digital, corporate and editorial. Editor and writer of books. Musical performance, spoken word as Inspector Ras. Guitar/vocals for The Near Misses, (Worst Band In JoburgTM). The last whitey at umsebenzi. Latest book 415 Action-Packed Neighbourhood Marketing Tips with Basil O'Hagan, out now. @hagenengler

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