Die Antwoord - Donker Mag
Zef RecordsDonker Mag is the third album by South African rap troupe Die Antwoord. They came to fame after releasing their debut record in 2009 and the track "Enter the Ninja" that was featured on it. They subscribe to the counterculture called "zef," which singer Yo-Landi Vi$$er describes as "You're poor but you're fancy. You're poor but you're sexy, you've got style."
Donker Mag has style. Or a lot of styles, we should say. At 16 tracks, the album is darkly animated, in a different way from their previous albums. Vi$$er's vocals are cartoonish and high, sometimes to annoying effect. It's the little squealing giggles on "Do Not Fuk Wif Da Kid" that put us over the edge, but the name of the track itself was irritating as well.
"Happy Go Sucky Fucky" is probably the closest thing to what the mainstream would call a complete track. It's a pretty clear-cut club banger. Many of the other tracks stop midway for a short monologue or a fit of giggles. Overall the lyrics are insipid and vapid. Not fucking people and not getting fucked by people is a huge theme here, but we don't really have enough room to comment on that.
The album bounces between spoken word tracks and bouncy rap tracks and tracks with a groovier beat and electronic-inspired tracks, then it closes with the self-titled track, which varies vastly from the rest of the record. "Donker Mag" is ambient and ethereal with soothing yet eerie vocals. Oddly enough, it plays well against the opening track off their previous album, Ten$ion.
