I saved my favorite two Coachella 2010 shows for last. Today Die Antwoord, tomorrow Major Lazer!

For those of us who don’t care about the color, shape, or country of our hip hop there’s Die Antwoord. The quickly rising stars from South Africa blend a unique approach and obscure subject matter laced with South African slang into a rather underwhelming genre; they breath new life into the strictly Black, African-American context of rapping.

I’ve heard and read the criticism of Die Antwoord and in my humble opinion its laughable at best (I’m not going to touch the White vs. Black South African issue because I don’t have the socio-political right to, and I don’t know South African history from South African sandwiches).

Were there naysayers of Jimi Hendricks on both White and Black sides of the fence? YES INDEED! There are those about us who maintain hip hop must stay within a Black-gangster-American code. This mentality perplexes me beyond belief: first, said Black-gangster image is rather gimmicky and easily the most fake least authentic thing about hip hop…it’s overused, stereotypical, expected, and uninteresting, lets be real it’s not 1995 anymore. Second, I can scarcely take you seriously if you think that African-Americans are all gangsters, and thus African Americans outside this paradigm are less Black or not Black at all…ask yourself, do you think African Americas were born with an extra muscle that allows for Jordan-esque dunking ability? HA!

I’m reminded of Dizzee Rascal who never even had a chance in America and probably for a multitude of reasons the least of which is lyrical-rapping skill, but rather his lack of success has mostly to do with image. Put Dizzly Rascal next to 50 Cent, 2 Pac, and Nas…one of these rappers doesn’t sound or look like the others. Image is the biggest reason a non-American rapper has yet to succeed in America, IMAGE!

Lo and behold Die Antwoord (recently signed to Interscope Records) has the best opportunity to make a serious run at the American charts. Though few will recognize Ninja’s talent as a rapper it’s once again an image conscious consumer that will eat this shit up. It should be said that Ninja is a dope emcee (evidenced by the first video), but what’s going to work for them in the states is how well timed their product is. There’s a moderate swing from the gangster image to unique forms of expression in hip hop these days. Don’t believe me? Kanye, Lupe, Wale, Cudi, Drake; what these rappers have in common is flight, as in fight or flight; all these dude would turn tale and run away if it came down to it. Lol, maybe not but their image is much softer than previous rap mega-stars. Couple the trend towards a softer image in hip hop with the rise of Indie as a genre, the production style of Hi Tek, and Die Antwoord’s uniquely South African hilarious but compelling hipster image and I’m predicting a winner!

Whether this happens is truly just a guess, but I’d be bamboozled if they can’t continue to build a buzz about their music with a major label backing them now.