Just a couple weeks after unconventional South African hip-hop outfit Die Antwoord outlined their sophomore LP, TEN$ION, the band have announced a change of plans, splitting from label Interscope to release the set independently.
BoingBoing reports that the split was hardly amicable, with the ordeal stemming from the imprint's hopes to soften up the zef troupe's sound. Allegedly, the label balked at the record's first single, "Fok Julle Naaiers" (roughly translating to "Fuck You All"), a hard-edged, aggro cut that you can see in the accompanying video clip below.
After being approached about selecting a different single, not to mention a new approach, Ninja and Yo-Landi Vi$$er decided to walk out on a million-dollar guarantee and take their business elsewhere.
"So anyway... Interscope offered us a bunch of money again to release our new album TEN$ION. But this time, they also tried to get involved with our music, to try and make us sound like everyone else out there at the moment," the group wrote in their online diary. "So we said: 'U know what, rather hang on to your money, buy yourself something nice...we gonna do our own thing. Bye bye.'"
The band have decided to release the new material through their own Zef Recordz via downloads and USB drives, as Ninja explained to BoingBoing, "Because CDs are like motherfucking VHS."
Along with the video, "Fok Julle Naaiers" is available now as a free download. The track finds Ninja especially intense and includes the debut verse from DJ Hi-Tek, the group's gay DJ, whom Vi$$er explains "haz just bust out da closet wif a muddafuckn vengeance!"
It's unclear exactly when TEN$ION will arrive in full, but the group plan to release more singles in the near future and have plans to tour early next year.
BoingBoing reports that the split was hardly amicable, with the ordeal stemming from the imprint's hopes to soften up the zef troupe's sound. Allegedly, the label balked at the record's first single, "Fok Julle Naaiers" (roughly translating to "Fuck You All"), a hard-edged, aggro cut that you can see in the accompanying video clip below.
After being approached about selecting a different single, not to mention a new approach, Ninja and Yo-Landi Vi$$er decided to walk out on a million-dollar guarantee and take their business elsewhere.
"So anyway... Interscope offered us a bunch of money again to release our new album TEN$ION. But this time, they also tried to get involved with our music, to try and make us sound like everyone else out there at the moment," the group wrote in their online diary. "So we said: 'U know what, rather hang on to your money, buy yourself something nice...we gonna do our own thing. Bye bye.'"
The band have decided to release the new material through their own Zef Recordz via downloads and USB drives, as Ninja explained to BoingBoing, "Because CDs are like motherfucking VHS."
Along with the video, "Fok Julle Naaiers" is available now as a free download. The track finds Ninja especially intense and includes the debut verse from DJ Hi-Tek, the group's gay DJ, whom Vi$$er explains "haz just bust out da closet wif a muddafuckn vengeance!"
It's unclear exactly when TEN$ION will arrive in full, but the group plan to release more singles in the near future and have plans to tour early next year.
FOK JULLE NAAIERS from Die Antwoord on Vimeo.