Antonia Vail

South African rave-rap duo Die Antwoord released their last album, Donker Mag, just a little over two years ago. The music critics didn’t take to kindly to the album, with claims of recycled material. So, Die Antwoord took two years to release their new album Mount Ninji and da Nice Time Kid. It would be a nice in-your-face to the critics that doubted them last time around. And yet whilst listening to the album, I can only wonder what they spent the majority of those two years doing.

The new album makes it clear that during that time their main focus was not on music.

It’s strange to review an album where half the tracks are a completely different sound from the other half. The first half of the album was promising. Tracks like “Daddy,” “Banana Brain,” and “Shit Just Got Real” are a refreshing comeback from Donker Mag. They had the authentic Die Antwoord sound that would be amazing to experience in person at an EDM festival. But after the track “Jonah Hill,” it sounds as though members Ninja and Yolandi Visser ran out of ideas.

Each track afterwards sounds like generic club music that would be played in a film. Not like Taratino’s use of Chuck Berry in the dance scene from Pulp Fiction or Scorsese’s use of Cream’s “White Room” in the bar scene of Goodfellas.

No, these songs would be played as a backdrop to important dialogue. They aren’t important enough to have center stage, they’re only there to set the mood for something bigger and greater to come along. But I wouldn’t recommend holding your breath waiting for it. The last track, titled “I Don’t Care,” returns to the rave scene like a dog with it’s tail between it’s legs.

The title of last track also reflects my view of this album. I don’t hate this album. But Die Antwoord definitely don’t give me anything to really like, either. It was quite a letdown. If you would like to get to the album, I recommend visiting a torrent site to do so.

3 out of 10 stars