In their new video Pitbull Terrier, members of South Africa’s rap/rave phenomenon Die Antwoord take the shape of animals to portray male/female stereotypes of sex and violence.
The video and lyrics leverage the pitbull, the ultimate animal ‘brand’ symbol of power and rage among adherents of machismo urban culture.
In a world populated by human/animal hybrids, the lead dog in the video howls, “I’m an animal, love me, I kill you”, as he engages in a spree of brutal acts. Lines become blurred: is this a man acting like a ‘savage’ dog, or a dog acting like a savage man?
You may not like this clip (it’s gory and NSFW), but nearly 12 million pairs of eyeballs on YouTube have voted otherwise since its debut in May, 2014.