Found this on BoingBoing. Description:
The much-anticipated new video from Die Antwoord just went live: EVIL BOY.
I heard the Diplo-produced 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 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. Pitchfork has a 24-hour exclusive on this one. Sorry about their shitty 30-second pre-rolls.
15 Comments
EndAllTo give some of the stuff in the video a bit more context, there's this further explanation from Xeni Jardin in the comments on BoingBoing:
So, the story behind this video and song (or part of the story -- there's so much going on!) is that this kid was being coerced into a form of ritual circumcision by his community. It's culturally mandatory within his ethnic group, so much so that if you are a young man and you do not participate, you are completely ostracized. It's hardcore.
The thinking, and this is communicated pretty bluntly to the young men, is that if you don't participate, you're gay. You're effeminate. You're not a real man. You never mature from being a boy to being a man.
The kid is hetero. And he struggled with all of this in real life: with what it meant for his personal and cultural identity. And he came to a point where he was like, you know what? Fuck you all. The fact that I won't consent to having my penis sliced with an unsterilized knife, out in the bush, and risk infection or worse-- that doesn't mean "I'm gay," as you say. If that's what being a man is, fuck it, I don't want to be a man. I'll be an "evil boy for life." But, yeah, I am a real man, even if I don't participate in this tradition which I now reject, at the risk of being totally ostracized from my community.
You might have chosen different lyrics, but dude, it's not our story or our culture or our world experience at all.
It's his.
enochthats sick...
but in a really good way.i am SO promoting this when i get the POWAH to do so.
demon_ixUpvoted mainly for the prawn glove
enochi heart yo landi!
*promote!
siftbotPromoting this video back to the front page; last published Friday, October 8th, 2010 3:47pm PDT - promote requested by enoch.
EndAll>> ^enoch:
i heart yo landi!
promote!
Thankya Enoch!
eric3579*dead
siftbotThis video has been declared non-functional; embed code must be fixed within 2 days or it will be sent to the dead pool - declared dead by eric3579.
siftbotAwarding geo321 with one Power Point for fixing this video's dead embed code.
geo321*findthumb *promote
siftbotThe thumbnail image for this video has been updated - findthumb requested by geo321.
Promoting this video back to the front page; last published Friday, October 8th, 2010 8:43pm PDT - promote requested by geo321.
MonkeySpanksays...Also, the monster you see in the video is a Tokoloshe - look him on Wikipedia.
>> ^EndAll:
To give some of the stuff in the video a bit more context, there's this further explanation from Xeni Jardin in the comments on BoingBoing:
So, the story behind this video and song (or part of the story -- there's so much going on!) is that this kid was being coerced into a form of ritual circumcision by his community. It's culturally mandatory within his ethnic group, so much so that if you are a young man and you do not participate, you are completely ostracized. It's hardcore.
The thinking, and this is communicated pretty bluntly to the young men, is that if you don't participate, you're gay. You're effeminate. You're not a real man. You never mature from being a boy to being a man.
The kid is hetero. And he struggled with all of this in real life: with what it meant for his personal and cultural identity. And he came to a point where he was like, you know what? Fuck you all. The fact that I won't consent to having my penis sliced with an unsterilized knife, out in the bush, and risk infection or worse-- that doesn't mean "I'm gay," as you say. If that's what being a man is, fuck it, I don't want to be a man. I'll be an "evil boy for life." But, yeah, I am a real man, even if I don't participate in this tradition which I now reject, at the risk of being totally ostracized from my community.
You might have chosen different lyrics, but dude, it's not our story or our culture or our world experience at all.
It's his.
siftbotDie Antwoord - Pitbull Terrier has been added as a related post - related requested by Norsuelefantti on that post.
siftbotDie Antwoord - Baby's On Fire (Official Music Video) has been added as a related post - related requested by Norsuelefantti on that post.
siftbotDie Antwoord - "Fatty Boom Boom" has been added as a related post - related requested by Norsuelefantti on that post.
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