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Song Stories

“Enter the Ninja”

Die Antwoord | 2010

When the video for "Enter the Ninja" hit the web, the world blinked. The song featured a glowering tattooed MC named Ninja and a tiny angry-eyed blonde name Yo-Landi Vi$$er laying down dance-rap beats in English and Afrikaans while a tiny man afflicted with progeria danced. The self-proclaimed "zef" or white trash band from South Africa was unlike anything else on earth. When asked about their unique sound and look, Ninja explained, "We are the underdog. We are the underbelly. No one had ever presented that. It was something people were shy or scared of—they swept it under the carpet. We made it our thing."

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Song Stories

“Time to Pretend”

MGMT | 2008

Listening to MGMT’s breakthrough song, one might interpret it as being about the excesses of rock stardom, but it’s actually about the duo’s pet praying mantis. Ben Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden told Rolling Stone they got the idea from the insect's jerky movements. The mantis died, but the two bandmates kept the egg sack and allowed the hundreds of eggs to hatch. “We tried to name them all, but they died after a day,” said Goldwasser, with VanWyngarden chiming in, “But the praying mantis dance inspired us.”

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