Zef - Zef Music and Culture

Zef Music and Culture

Zef has entered into the international lexicon (c. Jan 2010) as a result of the music of Die Antwoord and their self-identifying as "zef" in style. Zef is a style of music, performed in English and Afrikaans, rather than the broader category of Afrikaans music.

Ninja of Die Antwoord has an optimistic view of what zef music is. In an interview Jan 2011, Ninja responded to the controversy arising from his claim zef represented South Africa. Critics suggested it might rather just represent white South Africa. He commented that racism is somewhat obsolete and a thing of the past for South Africans. He observes that the cultures "have very merged." The end of apartheid has led to "not a harmonious merging, but fucked into one thing" of cultures previously kept "forceably apart.... It kind of works in a dysfunctional way." He suggests for the average South African, the question of his race is moot. He claims this controversy is based in the world's old perceptions of South Africa. While South Africa has been changing for over thirty years, international perception has not.

In the same interview, Ninja describes that zef is a style of music and a style of subculture, comparing it to hip-hop in its role in society.