Die Antwoord has got us all kinds of hot and bothered with recent events. First, Ninja told Exclaim! that the South African rap/rave group would be finished in 2017. Then, Yolandi Vi$$er came out with her pastel Uzis blazing, brutally denying any such statement that the Die Antwoord project would be over, and now their 4th studio album, Mount Ninji And Da Nice Time Kid, has just released.
To go along with the LP, Ninja took to Reddit for an AMA, and to set the record straight on what’s what, Exclaim! has released the full transcript of Daryl Keating’s interview with Ninja, revealing some telling details. But first, the AMA.
Here are some of the highlights of the Reddit session, but I highly recommend checking it out for yourself to get the full scoop. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDI5nXKi7e8
Kicking things off, Ninja had some things to say about Die Antwoord’s supposed falling out with Neill Blomkamp after Chappie, and their secret love for Jack Black.
“the original film we signed on 4 was wild as fuck mainly based around us turning chappie into the wild gangster robot jesus you should see the secret in-house short film we made 4 chappie to get the main 1 green lit then big studio power came in and started making that shit more and more diet coke but our essence wasn’t fucked with still a cute film just kinda tame compared to the art we used to making
Jack black is kinda 1 of my best friends in da hole universe he’s starring in our movie we making ourselves we writing, scoring and starring in it im directing called SOUTH AFRICAN NINJA dat shit def not gonna have no brakes on ;)”
Apart from discussing the forthcoming South African Ninja movie, Ninja also opened up about following the footsteps of Big Gigantic and Griz, and starting their own marijuana strain.
“we starting it in LA. and DJ MUGGS from Cypress fucking Hill is overseeing everything, who is basically the God of weed, he’s got mad plantations of his own… so yea starting our little line here, and will start expanding as things go… we soooo happy about this shit… its fucking crazy…”
Also, it seems starting branded ganja strains isn’t the only headway they’ve made. You know the hype daddy beat that finishes off the end of the “Banana Brain” music video? Yeah, that’s from their next album, which is apparently well under way.
“yo GOD made dat beat. iz from our nxt album. we already deep in2 dat bitch”
One fan invited Ninja to get cryptic and explain his evolution from “Ninja” to “Mount Ninji,” and apart from saying there is zero separation between his and Yolandi’s personal life and the music they make, here is how he thinks of his persona.
“i created NINJA for fun like 10 years ago or something like how Brian Warner created MARILYN MANSON or how Russel Jones created OL DIRTY BASTARD like how Bruce Wayne created BATMAN, then without me knowing it, i became NINJA
like i can’t remember who i was b4, like seriously feels like a dream or a past life
creating NINJA was like creating an indestructible manga style mecha that i climbed into and had to merge with to control
then at some point i became interested in climbing out the NINJA mecha and when i stepped out i discovered i had been transformed into MOUNT NINJI”
Now, on to the controversial Exclaim! interview, though there’s really nothing controversial about it. In the interview, Ninja straight up said Die Antwoord was over. No twisting of words, nothing “taken out of context,” just a genuine discussion that Ninja really seemed to enjoy; he even ended by saying, “Thank you, sir. I appreciate it. Thanks for a fun chat. Peace, my man.” Really, what else is there to say?
Daryl Keating: “So, it all ends on September 2017. Then what happens?”
Ninja: “Secrets, secrets, secrets, I’m not telling you. We’re doing South African Ninjaright after that and all these other things we’ve got cooking, these little secret motherfuckin’ projects.”
Daryl Keating: “So, are they going to be Die Antwoord projects?”
Ninja: “You weren’t listening, young man. Die Antwoord dies on that day. It’s all over.”
