



What’s more, the group can easily seem like a cheesy caricature of legitimate rap with two white leaders and some pretty old-school notions of the thug life, Die Antwoord can seem out of touch with modern rap and, ultimately, modern music. Though their music is u napologetically abrasive (and totally addictive), you’d be hard pressed to find a radio station playing Die Antwoord tracks on any given day. A bizarre South African rap-rave group fronted by rappers Ninja and Yo-landi Vi$$er, Die Antwoord seems too strange for the mainstream. With a clear artistic voice and compelling and challenging visuals, these groups succeed in harnessing the power of digital media in order to showcase their musical prowess.ĭie Antwoord, most notably, has been making strides in the world of music videos for over four years. Artists like Feist, tUnE-yArDs and Die Antwoord consistently turn to music videos as a crucial part of the process of releasing music. While established and popular artists fail to capture the imaginations and passions of listeners through media, the indie masses seem to flock to digital media to gain followers. Instead, these pop powerhouses produce video after video with a linear and trite plot-line, often merely play-acting the lyrics of their songs in overwrought and tasteless ways.īut here comes the interesting part. Unfortunately, this obligation does not inspire creativity. A relic of the days of MTV, many established artists view music videos as a necessary part of producing music. With notable exceptions like Michael Jackson and, more recently, Katy Perry and Beyonc é, it seems like for most mainstream artists, music videos are an unimportant and tedious part of music production. However, bizarre as it seems, music videos have somehow become irrelevant. In keeping with this trend, music videos should be playing a huge part in the way that we interact with and absorb music. Through YouTube videos, Instagram posts, Twitter updates and even Tumblr interactions (see Taylor Swift’s foray into that insular world), artists, companies and celebrities are able to communicate with the public instantaneously. In this day and age, pop culture is distributed to the masses through an overwhelming digital network.
