International hip-hop acts are beginning to work their way into the American music pallet.

In… International hip-hop acts are beginning to work their way into the American music pallet.

In 2008, M.I.A. released Kala, a breakthrough album that heralded in a new era of hip-hop. After strong reviews and several commercial uses of the song “Paper Planes,” M.I.A.’s brand of globally aware rhymes and rhythms had everyone from rap aficionados to drunken party girls singing along to “the boom boom song.” Two years later, another global hip-hop group from South Africa has come to show the United States that the rap game is played globally as well.

Die Antwoord and its co-conspirator in musical world domination, Jack Parow, both create hip-hop infused with local languages and social commentary from one of the most diverse areas in the world. Die Antwoord calls its style Zef, a South African term. Zef artists address contemporary issues in genre that stereotypically appeals to a working class, while infusing elements of hip-hop.

The rap-rave crew named Die Antwoord — Afrikaans for “the answer” — is composed of main MC Ninja, supporting MC/vocalist Yo-Landi Vi$$er and a maker of “next level beats on his PC computer” named DJ Hi-Tek. The band formed in 2008 but didn’t really take off until the videos for “Enter The Ninja” and “Zef Side,” which features a portion of its song “Beat Boy,” went viral on the Internet earlier this year. That allowed the group to tour the U.S. festival circuit while garnering significant media buzz.

The group’s music and over-the-top image have lead many to ask whether Die Antwoord is a serious creative outlet or just some strange parody. But in recent interviews Ninja has made it clear that although “Ninja” is a persona, it’s ultimately him, and the band’s music is authentic as well.

This month, the band released its U.S. debut album, $O$ — pronounced SOS. To coincide with its release, the band has unleashed its craziest song to date, a Diplo-produced track called “Evil Boy.” The video — which I insist everyone see at least once — is one of the strangest expressions of Die Antwoord’s decidedly NSFW aesthetic yet, and its execution is genius.

Shifting between numerous faux-boners, District 9-inspired creatures and more surreal sexual imagery than you can shake a penis-microphone at, “Evil Boy” has substance. It is actually about the featured guest Wanga’s rejection of his ethnic group’s circumcision ritual and how he embraced his social boyhood as a means of protecting himself from what he sees as a dangerous practice.

This juxtaposition of sheer absurdity and a smart social comment isn’t unique to Die Antwoord. But, in a time when serious hip-hop can feel like a rare thing, it’s a breath of fresh air to hear musicians from a different culture take on a traditionally American musical form and make it their own. Ninja, Yo-Landi and DJ Hi-Tek aren’t the only ones in South Africa’s rap game, though, and their Zef colleague Jack Parow is equally ready to take over the world.

Wearing a 2-foot flat brim hat and rapping almost exclusively in Afrikaans, Parow is an MC who might look like a fool if he didn’t deliver his rhymes with so much cool. Although Parow has stayed a bit more under the radar internationally than media-favorites Die Antwoord, his star-power has been increasing in South Africa since he released his debut EP Cooler as Ekke last December. That song’s video doesn’t have as many explicit images as “Evil Boy,” but it does offer another interesting look at international hip-hop

In the video, Parow begins as a common waiter who is pushed to the edge after some customers decide to act “too cool” and mess with him while they order. As “The Parow” emerges, the 2-foot brim on his hat still noteworthy, he begins to decry everyone who is too cool to have a good time.

Moving with an incredibly smooth flow over a drum and guitar sample, he dances with hot girls, grills meat with his friends, ghost-rides his car and throughout reinforces the idea that hip-hop should sometimes laugh at itself. Parow is the definition of cool and, despite how normal this all might sound for a hip-hop video, Cooler as Ekke is a perfect example of how hip-hop isn’t just an international phenomena, but a multi-lingual one as well.

Zef’s hip-hop artists might never reach the same proportions of fame as the legends of the U.S. rap game, but that’s not for a lack of talent, by any means. Both Die Antwoord and Jack Parow offer something unique and, in a musical world where songs can often seem the same, their distinctiveness really has meaning.