If you haven’t seen the video for ‘Enter the Ninja’ by Die Antwoord you have most likely been living under a rock, in space, with no communication whatsoever.
I’ve embedded it at the bottom of the post for you if that that’s the case. That’s not what this is about though. This is about the fact that the Enter the Ninja video has managed to ‘Go Viral’ all over the ‘interweb’. It has recieved acclaim from international artists and publications. The thing is though, in many cases they have no idea what our boy Ninja (Waddy Jones) is saying due to him throwing Afrikaans into the mix wherever it suits him and using an accent so strong that it takes a few listens for the average South African to figure out what he’s saying.
I’ve decided to rectify this issue by translating where necessary. So forward this on to your friends and family overseas. And point out to them that we don’t all talk like that. Much of what he says is slang, so I’ve used the meaning of what he says rather than the direct translation where necessary.
Die Antwoord The Answer - Enter the Ninja Lyrics Translated
[INTRO]
Checkit,
I represent South African Culture
In this place we’ve got a lot of different things
Blacks, Whites, Coloureds, English, Afrikaans, Xhosa, Zulu
Wat ook al and everything else
I’m like, all these different things
All these different people
Fucked into one person.
[SONG]
Aai aai aai
I am your butterfly
I need your protection
be my samurai
I’m a ninja yo, my life is like a video game, I maintain
when I’m in the zone one player, one life on the mic, limited time
yo ninja, go! No fucking around I’m cutting down anyone in my path
trying to fuck up my game with razor sharp lyrical throw-stars, here my flow’s hot
ho$tyle hostile, wild out of control
ninja skop befokte rof taal kicks fucked up rough language, rough ryhmes for tough times
met fokol kos, skraal with fuckall food, scrawny hungry, till I hit triple 7 at the atm, straight famine or feast
when you living on the razor edge, stay sharp sharp
rolling with the $o$ high-energy
you never seen zef redneck so fre$, uh! When we mic check
hi-tek flows flex, yo we optimistik optimistic
not fuckin depressed, we not like the rest
my style is ufo, totally unknown
you can’t fuck with my new zef redneck flow, I’m hard to miss, ‘you can’t do this, you can’t do that’
yo fuckin who said so? I do what I like, too hot to handle, too cold to hold
you can’t fuck with the chosen one, I-I-I-I-I want the knife
yo I’m a ninja
(Hook)
Ninja is poes koel fucking cool, but don’t fuck with my game boy
or I’ll poes fuck up you, life is tough, when I get stuck and my time is up
I push through, till I break-break-break on through to the other side
fantastically poor with patience like the stalker
ninja is hardcore, been cut so deep feel no pain
it’s not sore, don’t ask for kak shit
or you’ll get what you ask for I’m like a wild animal in the corner
waiting for the break of dawn, trying to get through the night, just a man with a will to survive
my blades swing free, decapitate a hater
with amazing ease, this is not a game boy
don’t play with me, I work my mic-saber
like a wild fuckin savage from the dark side: danger!
Yin to the yang, totally hi-tek, ninja’s motherfuckin
big in japan, I seen the future,
but right now I got nothing in my hand
except a microphone, big dreams and a plan, fly-talking, sky-walking
like a ninja
(Hook)
Fuck, this is like, the coolest song I ever heard in my whole life
fuck all of you who said I wouldn’t make it
they said I was a looser
they said I was a no-one
they said I was a fuckin psycho
but look at me now
all up on the interweb
worldwide
enter the ninja
yo-landi vi$$er
dj hi-tek
die fokken antwoord the fucking answer
dis mooi ne? this is nice hey?
(Hook)
I’m a ninja
yo I’m a ninja
I’m a ninja
a motherfuckin ninja
[END]
The words poes and zef are somewhat hard to explain,
Zef is a word I’d never heard used before and I assume was made up by ninja himself, It is however agreed to mean trashy in a manner similar to the American trailer trash. Zef means ‘tappet’, trash or redneck. Which are all pretty much the same thing.
Poes is the word ‘pussy’ South Africanised, it was a somewhat insulting term, “you are a poes” it now enjoys a somewhat wide range of uses far beyond it’s original meaning and in this song refers to derivatives of the word fuck, “ninja is poes koel” – Ninja is fucking cool.
Take a look at the video to refresh your recollections of the song or see it or the first time if you actually do live under a rock.
[EDIT]
Thanks to Christo for his corrections of a few failings in my knowledge of Afrikaans slang.
For more information, music, and other clips take a look at their website
South Africans feel free to add your interpretations of the Enter the Ninja lyrics in the comments section. And forward this on to the rest of the world.
No related posts.
I still think they’re a bunch of bullshit and chips
You just did a direct translation…not the same dude..some of our words got different meanings depends on the way you use it.. “poes cool” is fucking cool….but if you say someone is a poes..then you mean someone is a cunt.. same with “skraal”..directly translated..scrawny, but skraal is also hungry..as Ninja used it.. “zef”..also called “tappet” means lower class..or redneck..it’s a word that has been around long before ninja.. anyway.. howzit from joburg, south africa..
Shot dude, I’m something of a soutie so your help is appreciated. Adding your edits now. I had the poes cool right though. Nice to know we have readers up North. Thanks for your help and keep reading.
You have ABSOLUTELY GOT TO listen to this –> Enya vs. Die Antwoord:
http://www.watkykjy.co.za/2010/02/die-antwoord-vs-enya-orinoco-ninja-flow-wedding-djs-remix/
ha ha ha ha I actually feel enriched as a person for listening to this. Sorry Antwoord haters…
nice, “Sail away motherfuckers” also worth a listen is the prodigy vs enya remix but I can’t be bothered to find a link.
just heard this song a few days ago… seriously kwl us south african are kwai !! (cool) cant wait to hear some more songs from Antwoord !! Dis gevarlik bro !
You oaks are wrong with the Zef translation, Zef is style, a little bit like swagger in a way. I saw an interview with Ninja and Yolandie.
Yeah I’ve also seen that interview. There’s lots of ways to interpret it, but good point – it is more about a style than anything else.
Nice effort… translated some of it wrong…. zef isnt redneck… it means commen, trashy etc… didnt read further.
Yeah, thanks – we translated it generally for our overseas audience. It’s not exact, but the idea was for people to get the idea…
Zef is a complex thing tbh.
They look the the guy in the vid. They drink a lot, and they buy cheap cars, and attempt to soup them up. They like streetracing, so this, combined with the crappy cars sort of remind of box-car racing (redneck) vibes…
It’s a lot like rednecks basically, but with a south-african flavor.
In much the same way americans make fun of rednecks sometimes, we do the same thing over here. And we have been laughing at these guys for a very long time now. We adopt some of thier slang, because it is hilarious. When we see some nice zeff, we take photies with our cellphones and send them to our buddies. Sort of like trophies. When you see a lekker sopped op (nicely souped up) car, you do the same.
In this way, zeff has built up a strange cult following over the years. This is the main reason shit like this exists as well: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpLghAaRuLI
So, basically, if you have not been following the while zeff thing, it’s sort have hard to get up to speed. But youll get there.