With plans to pulverize the free world with so-called “next level beats”, South Africa’s Die Antwoord encapsulates quite possibly the best and worst of pop music for the summer of 2010. The trio, whose name is Afrikaans for “the answer”, orchestrates an in-your-face attack with explicit lyrics layered with electro, rasta, gangsta rap, and Top 40 influences. An implosion of pop culture so delicious it can’t be ignored, 5 is the crew’s first American release and follows a stream of nutty videos released under a slew of names, most famously of the character “Max Normal” and his pen-and-ink creations. “Enter the Ninja” is a galvanizing fight song and “Fish Paste” plunders an innocuous Mariah Carey sample and a heady dose of M.I.A.-style attitude.

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