Have you ever liked something so strange that when you showed it to your friends, they were silent for a minute and then asked, “Are you serious? What kind of tin? Do you have enough irony and common sense not to take seriously a call for murder from a petite girl with a squeaky voice? Do you like good electronic music with national flavor?

If you answered yes to at least one of these questions, then most likely you will like the group Die Antwoord.

Ninja, Yo-Landi and DJ Hi-Tek are all from South Africa. They are called a “rap rave group”, and the trio themselves consider their style to be “zef”. “Zef” is when you are poor but cool. You're poor, but you're sexy and stylish,” explains Yo-Landi, a tiny blonde with short bangs.

The most common questions about this girl are: “How old is she?” and “How does she make that voice?” Indeed, the timbre of Yo-Landi’s voice is very high, and in contrast with the aggressive recitative from Ninja and the technical beats of DJ Hi-Tek, it sounds amazing.

The creativity of Die Antwoord should not be taken at face value. The musicians themselves take it very seriously, but it is still art, a fictional reality with its own rules. The group names their works “practices that expand consciousness”, the purpose of which is to shock. One can argue about the expansion of consciousness, but the fact that Die Antwoord created a completely new style that gathered a crowd of followers is a fact. As well as the fact that all their works sound and look stylish and thoughtful, and their innate musicality and sense of rhythm help the South African trio make tracks that you can’t help but move to.

“People live unconsciously, so you have to use your art as a shocker to wake them up.”, says Ninja.

Die Antwoord cope with their shocking mission perfectly, as can be seen from any of their videos.
The musicians bring a South African flavor not only to the melodies, but also to the pronunciation and spelling of English words. This “wrong” sound adds to their quirkiness and freakiness. By the way, “freaks” is perhaps the most common characteristic of the group. The musicians make, to put it mildly, a strange impression on most casual listeners (and even more so spectators) and provoke a barrage of criticism. But the guys don’t despair and make a hit out of it – I Fink U Freeky (that’s a distortion of words!)

In the video, the musicians brought together people with unusual appearance, who in ordinary life are considered strange and ugly. And in the world of Die Antwoord, this is beauty that shocks, which means it is necessary. “I think you’re freaky and I like you a lot” sounds like a refrain, while in the black and white video all these “freaks” dance weirdly and smile terribly.

The weird videos don't end there. Quite the contrary. Here's the plot of another one (Banana Brain): Long-haired blonde Yo-Landi treats her parents to tea with an animal dose of sleeping pills and goes to hang out with her boyfriend Ninja. At a party, a guy tries to impress her with a rap, but Yo-Landi runs off with a girl who shares a brand of LSD with her. After which the Ninja rescues his beloved from the hands of the seductress in the hope of spending the evening with her as a savior. But then the drug begins to take effect, and Yo-Landi, locked in the bathroom, tries to cut off his hair. The ninja is right there again: he saved the girl and did her hair himself. True, then I had to give up my hat to hide the “hairdressing creativity” from my already awakened parents.

Die Antwoord's videos can really be shocking: there are lions attacking people, a man with the face of a pit bull chewing out the throat of a criminal, and a gynecologist removing insects - where would you think? Yes, you're right. Blood, drugs, shots. If we do not forget that all this is just an artistic fantasy, we can appreciate the serious work of the group.

But Die Antwoord's videos would be interesting to watch even without all this brutality. At least because they are made absolutely cinematically: there is a clear plot that develops from beginning to end, and the ending itself is necessarily shown in such a way that the video feels like it has a logical conclusion - and this is quite rare in music videos. Often they also have a “conversational” part (usually the beginning) without music, which looks like a real film (for example, Baby`s On Fire).

Either because of this cinematography, or because of their bright appearance - you never know why - the group was invited to star in a real big movie. In 2015, the film “A Robot Named Chappie” was released with Ninja and Yo-Landi. It wasn't a huge success, but it attracted a lot of attention - mainly among Die Antwoord fans.

The group members are also favorites of fashion designers. Adherents of high fashion often turn to celebrities for joint projects, and Alexander Wang invited the group to star in a promotional video for his T by Alexander Wang collection. It's not "zef" anymore, but it's still stylish.

It's no wonder that the band's eccentric style resonates so much: Die Antwoord were the first to shock the public not only with cool music, but also with frankly brutal videos. It “shot” and turned out to be just in time. Now the band can even afford to turn down Lady Gaga's offer to open for her!

Die Antwoord

Die Antwoord The Answer
Die Antwoord performing at the El Rey Theater, Los Angeles, July 17, 2010
basic information
Genre	Zef-rap, Rap-rave
Years	from 2008 to present
A country	South Africa
Where
Language of songs
Labels	Interscope, Cherrytree, Polydor, Rhythm Records
Compound	Ninja Yo-Landi Vi$$er
Other projects	The Original Evergreens MaxNormal.TV The Construct Corporation
www.dieantwoord.com

Die Antwoord- a group consisting of two members (Ninja, Yo-Landi Vi$$er), performing music in the style of “zef-rap” (“zef” - in Afrikaans approximately “white trash”, “redneck”) or otherwise “rap- rave." Die Antwoord was formed in Cape Town, South Africa. .

History of the group

Die Antwoord became the founders of the style of music " zef-rap" The group gained popularity thanks to the song and video “ Enter the ninja" by posting it on YouTube. The clip, despite its poor content, quickly collected a huge number of views and helped the group gain many fans. The text of the SMiLE.dk group “Butterfly” was used http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_qwUS8Uqjg. Watkin Tudor Jones himself (aka Waddy Jones, Ninja) says that he was inspired to create a new page in the book of musical styles... by a taxi.

“In South Africa, the rave is constantly coming out of taxis, bro,” Ninja tells reporters. - You can hear it all around the city, driving past a taxi, and shaking - BOOM, BOOM. Therefore, my main source of inspiration is taxis. Our entire album sounds like if you are standing next to a car and hear music coming from there.”

The mysterious history of the appearance of these guys only increases their growing popularity every day, and the role of “dirty” rap ravers who “send everyone right and left” explodes with enthusiastic crowds. Lyrics Die Antwoord rude and simple-minded, but perhaps that’s what listeners like. The unpretentiousness of the lyrics, according to listeners, makes it possible for everyone to feel equal to their favorite performer.

Composition of the group

Main participant - Zef rap-rave master NINJA name is Waddy Jones, also known as The Man Who Never Came Back, MC Totally Rad, Yang Weapon or Max Normal(The list goes on), also a girl YO-LANDI VI$$ER (Anri Du Toit). And the third character is mysterious Bit-Box monster under a pseudonym DJ Hi-Tek, who takes part in the videos exclusively behind the scenes. Also Leon Botha, who gained popularity after the group’s videos. Leon Botha suffered from a rare disease, progeria, which causes people to age very quickly. Usually the average age of patients is 13 years, but Leon is an old-timer among them. He died on June 5, 2011 at the age of 26.

Zef Rap

Zef-Rap, or Rap-Rave is a completely new direction in the modern world of music. In combination with the cheerful motives of New Rave, high-quality Rap takes on an extraordinary sound, and both of these directions complement each other in a new style - Zef Rap, given to us by the guys from the group Die Antwoord

Discography

Albums

• 2009 $O$(MP3, album, self-released)
• 2010 $O$ (revised version)( , album, Cherrytree Records) U.S. #109
• 2012 Tension

Mini Albums (EP)

• 2010 5 (CD, Cherrytree Records)
• 2010 Extra(CD, EP, Cherrytree Records)

Singles

• 2009 Wat Pomp(feat. Jack Parow)
• 2009 Beat Boy
• 2010 Enter the Ninja
• 2010 Fishpaste
• 2010 Evil Boy(feat. Wanga)
• 2011 Rich Bitch
• 2011 Fok Julle Naaiers
• 2012 I Fink U Freeky
• 2012 Baby's On Fire
• 2012 XP€N$IV $H1T
• 2012 Dis Iz Why I"m Hot (Zef Remix)
• 2012 FATTY BOOM BOOM

Notes

Links

• South African group Die Antwoord invents the "Zef" culture, creates a new hip-hop and conquers the "interweb".

Categories:

• Musical groups in alphabetical order
• Musical groups of the 2000s
• Musical groups of South Africa
• Musical groups that appeared in 2008

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Yolandi Visser told her story

2015-02-28
by: showbizby
Published in:

Arriving in Hollywood at the invitation of director Neill Blomkamp to play a role in his new film Chappie, Die Antwoord frontwoman Yolandi Visser stopped by the Dazed & Confused editorial office to tell her amazing story about the path to fame.

Yolandi Visser shows up at the bar of an old-school Hollywood hotel, looking like an albino gangster from another dimension. She's wearing a wide black paita with the word "BO$$" sewn on it, and Yolandi is wearing bright green sneakers. The Die Antwoord frontwoman takes a seat in a leather chair and orders coffee and freshly squeezed juice. The bar's visitors look at her in surprise, and it is not surprising, because this blond little miracle with a menacing look and a childish voice appeared literally out of nowhere.

“When I return to my home in South Africa, I almost never go anywhere without security,” says Yolandi. “I don’t have to take care of anything anymore, for some reason people want to wait on me.”

It’s hard to imagine that this 160-centimeter young mother was able to set the heat on all the self-proclaimed moralists and conservatives. But this always happens when people who have been at the very bottom of the social ladder become popular. They pay for everything.

Yolandi Visser, born Henri Du Toit, has managed to become an atypical pop icon. Either she sings in the thin voice of a seductive Lolita, or she raps aggressively, mixing English and Afrikaans in her reading. She broke all the canons of the pop industry and gained popularity together with her bandmates - rapper Ninja and DJ Hi-Tek. Since breaking out with their hit single "Enter the Ninja" in 2010, Die Antwoord have established a strong presence in the industry and have cemented an image of "crazy punk innovators" that the band strives to maintain at any cost. At the end of last year 2014, they released their new video “Ugly Boy”, which starred such stars as Jack Black, Dita Von Teese, ATL Twins, and supermodel Cara Delevingne. All sorts of freaks love Die Antwoord and support them in every possible way, which is why the group's concerts have become some of the most unforgettable and energetic shows in the world of music. The crowd is chanting wildly: “zef”, “zef”, “zef” is the name of the South African street culture that inspired their favorite band to create their image.

Yolandi rarely gives interviews, and almost never alone. She prefers to remain a mystery; a rave elf from the land of Zef, whose story will remain unrevealed. “It just annoys me when we are asked the same questions. For example: “Are you real?”, journalists just want to disgrace us, put us down and supposedly “bring us into the open,” so over time I began to give interviews less and less, until my desire completely disappeared. But now there is Facebook and Instagram, so who needs these interviews. But sometimes we need to share new information and we go to meet journalists. Like now"

After the group surpassed 200 million views on their YouTube videos, Ninja and Yolandi hit the big screen, joining Hugh Jackman and Sigourney Weaver in District 9 director Neill Blomkamp's new film, Chappie. " In the film, the couple play musicians turned gangsters who shelter and try to turn the robot Chappie into a human.

“There is something special about Yolandi and Ninja, they both attract you in an incomprehensible way,” Blomkamp shared with us. “It doesn’t matter whether you love them or hate them, but they catch you. And there is something about Yolandi that is hard to describe in words. You yourself don’t know why you suddenly start to like her so much. She has a kind of split personality - the dissonance between her visual image and what she raps about is fascinating. This is what, apart from the fact that she is very smart, interests people in a way that no one else could.”

Yolandi was born on December 1, 1982 in a small provincial town in the eastern
coast of South Africa - Port Alfred. As a child, Visser was adopted by a married couple - a priest and a housewife. Yolandi admits that in her youth it was very difficult for her, she constantly felt that she had no place anywhere. Growing up, Yolandi says, she was a “little punk” who was constantly getting into trouble.

“It’s very strange and unlike me, to be honest, because by nature I’m very soft and caring.”

She says she's a goth at heart ("Me and my girlfriend even dyed our underwear black") and adores artists such as PJ Harvey, Nine Inch Nails, Cypress Hill, and Aphex Twin.

“I love everything dark. When Alpex Twin's "Come To Daddy" video came out and was directed by Chris Cunningham, I was just praying for it." The influence of this video is felt in the dark, slightly bloody video for "Ugly Boy", in which Yolandi appears as a cute, but slightly frightening demon, with eyes dark as a pool.

At the age of 16, Yolandi was sent to a boarding school in Yolandi, a 9-hour drive from her home, and there, surrounded by other creative children, the girl finally blossomed.

“I was lucky with the school. The people there were incredibly creative, and unusually broad-minded for South Africa. I was incredibly happy. For the first time in my life, I met people who were just as creative as me.”

Yolandi never knew her mother and father and doesn’t even want to know. She knows very little about them, only that her mother was white. Not long ago, the artist, who uses facial features to determine whether a person belongs to any race or nationality, said that Yolandi is colored (“Colored” in South Africa refers to people of mixed race). When Yolandi first heard this suggestion, she had this reaction: “I told her, 'No, I'm white,' but after she started asking me about my family, I became doubtful. Now I think I can be colored.” Yolandi believes her father may have been black. She was born at a time of intense hostility between the white and black populations and thinks that her mother’s parents could have forced her to send her child to an orphanage because they did not want to have a granddaughter from a black man. But this is just a theory.

Another important factor that helped Yolandi become the person she is is Ninja. Her daughter's father and Die Antwoord bandmate. “We are connected forever, we are connected in life and music. We can't be whole without each other." Ninja's real name is Watkin Tudor Jones, he is 40 and has been rapping since he was 13. Ninja grew up in Johannesburg and spent much of his youth in rap nightclubs, where he learned to rap.

“You have to be a really good rapper to be taken seriously, especially if you're white,” says Yolandi. Visser met Ninja outside a Cape Town nightclub around 2003. He was dressed in a tracksuit and sneakers to match the suit, and at that time he was performing in the hip-hop duo Handsome Boy Modeling School.

“When Yolandi and I first met, she said to me, ‘What’s wrong with you? What are you wearing? Do not come to me". She was a little gloomy girl who looked about 13 years old. I was afraid of her.”

After Yolandi and Ninja met again at one of his shows, he invited the gothic Visser to provide vocals for one of the tracks of his new hardcore band, The Constructus Corporation.

“I just wanted her to say, ‘Take it, you motherfuckers!’ in her signature way and her unique voice. We got to the studio, she did what she was asked to do, and I just fell out! This was just what we needed!” Visser told Ninja that she didn't know anything about rap and he promised to teach her everything. They were in a relationship for some time, and in 2004 she became pregnant with his child.

“I was still very young - sharing Yolandi - At that moment I thought: “Fuck, my life is over,” because all my friends were smoking weed and partying, and I was sitting at home with the child. But I was very strict about my duties as a mother. There was no more weed or booze. I was a good mom. But it was hard. I felt very lonely and distant from everyone for a very long time, but in the end, it was all for the better, because it helped Ninja and I become truly close people. If this had not happened, everything could have turned out differently in our lives.”

They are no longer together, although many fans sincerely wish they would get back together. “A lot of people still see us as a couple. And this is not surprising, because we have a very rare relationship, a rare union. It's rather strange that we are not a couple. But it would be too difficult for lovers to have a common child and a common group.”

Yolandi also has an adopted son, Tokki, a boy whom she adopted several years ago. He was nine years old at the time, his family lived very poorly, so Yolandi offered to take him home for the weekend, and then he came to live with her.

“I always had an inexplicable, literally at the subconscious level, connection with street children and all kinds of scum,” says Yolandi. “I saw great potential in Tokki, and I knew that if he remained a wanderer, there would be no prospects for him. No one will give a damn about him. And now he has blossomed and become a charming boy.”

In 2007, Yolandi invited Ninja to create a group, and it was then that the first seeds of the Die Antwoord group were sown. Having started working on the first tracks, they turned to DJ Hi-Tek, their good friend, for help.” Hitech soon became a mysterious figure, always present but always behind the scenes. Even at concerts, he usually stands behind the DJ console wearing a mask or a jacket with a hood pulled up to his nose.

“It was the start of something. There were now three of us. And we wanted to come up with images for ourselves, and not just sit in the studio and write tracks. We wanted to come up with our own style." It was then that the famous hairstyle was born.

Visser swears that nothing like that was on her mind until she began to embrace her brutal, cyber-punk essence as Die Antwoord finally found their style. It was 2009 and they were filming their second video. The director of the video wanted her to be a cute little girl.

“I had long blonde hair and people made fun of me, calling me Britney and Gaga. And I told Ninja that I need to come up with something unique. I wanted to look so that my appearance expressed my soul and my personality. The ninja offered to shave off my temples... At that moment, it was as if I was born again.”

Visser's hairstyle and white eyebrows are more reminiscent of another perverted fashion or a desperate desire to attract attention. Her style declares that she is proud of herself and is not afraid to be who she wants to be. To this day, Ninja shave her temples. No one else is allowed to touch Yolandi's hair. Visser remembers the night in which her whole life changed as if it were just yesterday. On February 3, 2010, Die Antwoord were scheduled to perform in Johannesburg.

“It was raining heavily that day and I told Ninja: “No one will come in such and such rain!” But when we got to the stage where we were supposed to perform, people started shouting our names and everything. I remember that night like it was yesterday: the microphone broke and the crowd sang all the lyrics for us. As I drove home, I couldn't understand what had just happened to me. It feels like life has turned 180 degrees. We were like kids trying to get something sweet.”

That night their video was watched 10 thousand times. The mailbox address was still listed on the band's official website and fans began writing letters to them. The next morning the video was already shown on TV in the USA, and a little later a representative of the record company Interscope contacted them and offered to sign a contract. They flew to the USA to personally meet with the company's legendary founder, Jimmy Iowaine.

After some time, Hollywood was already knocking on their doors. Famous director David Fincher offered Yolandi the leading role in the film “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.”

“My manager then called me and said: “You have to agree, otherwise say goodbye to your career. But I refused. Because I didn’t want to do anything besides music. This is my calling."

Visser understood that if she switched her attention from music to cinema for a year, then Die Antwoord would lose themselves. Fincher continued to call her and offer to meet, but she refused.

“If I decide something, then my decision is final and unconditional. Even if it is incorrect. I hate doubting. Therefore, if I decide something, I follow my line to the end.”

At the same time, Neill Blomkamp invited Ninja to star in his new film Elysium.

“I asked Nindya to refuse the role and then we had a big fight. Because he is very ambitious, much more ambitious than me. He was like, “Let’s do everything!” I felt that if we went into the shadows now, the group would be forgotten. So I persuaded him to wait.”

The role eventually went to Matt Damon and the couple returned to South Africa to record their second studio album.
After the album was recorded, they sent the demo tape to Interscope and waited to hear their verdict.

“I felt like I was at school. They told us: "The album is good, but it lacks rave." We replied: “How many more rave do you want?”

The label said that they needed to record three more songs, and one duet with some promoted artist.
“We didn't like it very much.

We were like, “Fuck you! Why should we collaborate with an artist we don't like or feel? We were under a lot of pressure, so we called our lawyers and said, “Can you make Interscope disappear from our lives?”

Their lawyers were unsure about the case. “Our contract was as thick as a Bible.” But fortunately for Die Antwoord, Interscope allowed them to go without any fuss.

“It seemed to me that they were just afraid of the Ninja. They gave us a million dollars and we gave it back. We didn't want their money, we just wanted to do what we were passionate about. Everyone around said: “They are fake, they are pretending!”, and I answered: “No, we want to prove that we can become better and that we did not get everything because of luck, like Vanilla Ice.”

In 2012, the group released the album “Ten$ion” on their label “Zef Records” and refused the offer to open for them on a world tour. Die Antwoord are currently recording their fourth studio album with DJ Muggs, whom they met at a traditional Italian birthday party.

“When we arrived at the party, Ninja and I felt like we were in the movie “The Godfather” - everything was so in that style. And then our friend introduced us to Muggs. We've always loved his dark music. Cypress's beats have always been so warm and catchy, but at the same time dark and heavy. We were really interested in him and Ninja said: “We should work with him.”

The band and DJ recorded 8 songs at Flea's studio in LA. Yolandi describes the songs as: “Crazy and dark and very atmospheric. We always joke with Muggs that he is of the same blood as us. Our creative visions are very similar and that’s what I call true collaboration that works.”

Their collaboration with film director Neill Blomkamp can also be called extremely organic. Instead of tailoring Die Antwoord to his vision, the director wrote the script based on the characters of these two. He wanted them to be themselves, and not one of his inventions.

“I know a lot of contemporary artists,” says Neil, “but very few of them do what they really want. The modern artists we see on TV are very bland and predictable. Yolandi and Ninja do not succumb to the industry influences that many other artists succumb to, which makes their work simply boring. I find this the most interesting thing about them.”

Despite concerns that audiences would not understand Yolandi and Ninja's thick South African accents, Blomkamp insisted that Yolandi and Ninja could not be played by anyone other than themselves. During the filming of Chappie, many directors said that they finally understood the indescribable magnetism of Ninja and Yolandi and even wanted to make a show with them based on real events. At that time, Ninja and Yolandi had already begun filming a documentary about their lives, but then decided that the TV show format would tell their story better.

“We wanted to make a film about ourselves. About how we signed a contract with Interscope. About the night we became famous. About our daughter. About our crazy adventures in the West. It's impossible to produce something like this. This can only be experienced. These stories and emotions are indescribable." They wanted to call the show "ZEF".

By the way, Yolandi says that they even wanted to change the name of the group to “Zef”.

“Die Antwoord is, of course, a cool name, but it is too complicated and sounds somehow German. The meaning of our band name “Answer” is very deep and I really like it because it conveys our philosophy, but “Zef” is much... simpler. Ninja is a simple guy. Yolandi is also very simple. And Zef couldn’t be simpler either. But let’s see what happens next, right?”

Translation by Vlad Kitkat

The lead singer of Die Antwoord is known as Yo-landi Visser. She is easy to recognize and hard to forget thanks to her alien hairstyle, white eyebrows, and ability to combine a cute little voice with an aggressive rap. Many interesting facts remain behind the scenes, and they will be discussed in the article.

Origin and childhood

The biography of the lead singer of Die Antwoord does not begin in the most rosy way. The girl does not know her biological parents. Presumably, the mother was white and the father was black. As the girl herself suspects, her mother could have been forced by close relatives to abandon the child due to racial conflicts within the country.

The girl was taken in by a religious family - a priest and a housewife. Yolandi had an older brother who was also adopted. She was always oppressed by the strict principles of her family and the conservative environment of the provincial town of Port Alfred, in which she spent her childhood. The child grew up problematic and wayward. St Dominic's Catholic School for Girls failed to tame her difficult character. At the age of 16, Yolandi became involved in a school fight, which resulted in her expulsion.

The beginning of a musical journey

The difficult teenager was sent to study at the Praetorian boarding school, a 9-hour drive from home. Here the atmosphere was more creative, the peers were more advanced. She admits that at the boarding school she finally found like-minded people and felt free.

Our heroine’s classmate was interested in experimenting with the music creation program FL-studio. As one of them, he recorded a composition with the voice of Yolandi, which was positively received and distributed by his classmates. So, at the age of 16, the future star first tried herself as a participant in a creative project. But the girl did not take this experiment seriously and did not make further musical plans.

Meet the Ninja

After finishing school at 18, Yolandi and her adoptive parents moved to the more developed Cape Town to find some work. Like most of her peers, she often went to clubs. In one of them, Yolandi soon met a young guy named Watkin Tudor Jones. Then he rapped in a local group, and now he is known as Ninja. This acquaintance became a fateful event for the young people.

At first they just hung out together. Ninja was impressed by the girl’s unusual voice and saw the potential for creating interesting joint compositions. The future soloist of Die Antwoord did not understand music at all and did not believe in her capabilities in this direction. But she was interested in what Ninja was doing. He promised to educate the girl about hip-hop and teach her everything. Yolandi became the rapper's personal assistant and participated in some recordings. Gradually, an understanding of musical culture, the ability to control one’s voice and read rap appeared.

Birth of a daughter

Soon the girl became pregnant. In 2004, she gave birth to a girl named Sistine. The young parents tried to start a more serious relationship for the sake of the child. However, it didn’t work out. Both realized that marriage would not end and decided to remain friends. However, both parents are actively involved in raising a child from the very beginning.

For some time after the birth of the child, Yolandi fell out of her usual way of life and was engaged in education. While all her friends were out partying and smoking weed, she was forced to learn how to be a responsible mom. The girl admits that at some moments it was offensive, but it was worth it. And as her daughter grew up, creative plans matured in the young mother’s head.

The birth of Die antwoord and the soloist style

After the collapse of another group in which Ninja read, in 2007 Yolandi invited him to create a joint one. A mutual friend known as DJ Hi-Tek was hired as a DJ for the team. Experiments and searches for style did not last long. Almost immediately the direction of the group was determined - zef-rap (the more common name is rap-rave). The lead singer of Die Antwoord characterizes it as the music of scum who have no money, but have style.

It was necessary to create a memorable image for each participant. Yolandi then was a typical pretty young blonde from the Britney Spears category. Fateful changes occurred in 2009. The group was filming their first video, and the girl did not want to agree with the image of a cutie that the director saw in her. The ninja said, "Well, let's just do it!" and shaved off her temples. This is how the famous frontwoman hairstyle was born. She admits that she then felt extraordinary energy and inspiration from how much her external appearance reflected her internal state. Since then, only Ninja touches the singer’s hair.

In the photo of the lead singer of Die antwoord, her hairstyle is amazing.

Actor career

David Fincher invited the performer to star in his film “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.” She categorically refused to negotiate, despite statements from others that it was unforgivable to miss such an opportunity. Yolandi justified her choice by saying that she wanted to devote herself entirely to music, to do what she knows how and how she feels. Be true to yourself, even if it is wrong from the point of view of commercial success. In addition, filming would practically take up at least a year of life, which was an unaffordable luxury, given the need to achieve musical goals and raise a child.

However, it can still be seen on the big screen. In 2014, he and Ninja played themselves in the film Chappie. There are several possible reasons for agreeing to filming. Influenced by Ninja, who was always more ambitious. Director Blomkamp's South African origins probably also inspired loyalty to the proposal. But the most important factor, most likely, was the absence of the need to transform into another character on screen, the opportunity to remain oneself. Be that as it may, participation in the film had a good effect on the recognition of the musicians.

Children

In addition to her own daughter Sistine, the lead singer of Die Antwoord has an adopted son, Tokki. She adopted a boy from a poor family that could not provide him with decent maintenance and education. Yolandi met him wandering the streets of Joburg and at first she simply picked up Tokki on weekends. But she soon realized that this was not a solution, that the promising boy would get lost in the slums. And she took him completely under her wing.

Yolandi admits that it was very difficult for her as a child, she felt like a stranger and unnecessary to anyone. She has an almost family connection with street children; they evoke special sympathy.

Despite the provocative image, according to eyewitnesses, the singer is an exemplary and caring mother. To spend more time with their daughter, her parents take her on tour and to shoot music videos. The baby even took part in some of them.

Many will be interested:

• Many people don’t know the actual name of the lead singer of Die antwoord - Henri du Toit. She chose this stage name because she simply fell in love with the popular South African name Yolandi. She says that in her life she knew more than 30 girls with that name. And since the group works in the Zef culture, this name fits in perfectly. The soloist calls it a pleasant bonus for herself that her name begins with YO!
• The girl was born on December 1, 1984. According to her zodiac sign she is Sagittarius, and according to the eastern horoscope she is Rat. And now you can calculate how old the lead singer of Die antwoord is!

• Yolandi is a very petite girl. Height - 1.55 cm, weight - 45 kg. Approximate parameters: 79-53-81. The singer is not predisposed to be overweight, but due to a busy touring schedule, her weight is constantly decreasing.
• Favorite musicians: NIrvana, Nine Inch Nails, Cypress Hill, Aphex Twin, Marylin Manson, Eminem.
• The band's name, Die Antwoord, means "The Answer". In recent interviews, the soloist expressed the idea of ​​changing the name to the more understandable “ZEF” in honor of the street culture they represent.
• In 2013, Yolandi moved to Los Angeles. Due to its great popularity in South Africa, it rarely appears without protection.
• Poorly informed people believe that Yolandi and Ninja are married. Fans have long dreamed that they would still be together. But there is absolutely no information about the personal life of the lead singer of Die Antwoord. However, Ninja is now officially married. And Yolandi has repeatedly asserted that they have long been connected only by music.