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Yolandi Fisser told her story

2015-02-28
by: showbizby
Published in:

Arriving in Hollywood at the invitation of director Neil Blomkamp to star in his new film Chappie, Die Antwoord frontwoman Yolandi Fisser dropped by the Dazed & Confused office to tell her amazing story of her rise to fame.

Yolandi Fisser appears at the bar of an old-school Hollywood hotel, looking like an albino gangster from another dimension. She is wearing a wide black pita with the words "BO$$" sewn on it, and Yolandi is shod in bright green sneakers. Frontwoman Die Antwoord sits down in a leather chair and orders coffee and fresh juice. The patrons of the bar are looking at her in surprise, and it is not surprising, because this blonde 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 out without security,” says Yolandi. “I don’t have to take care of anything anymore, for some reason, people want to serve me.”

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

Yolandi Fisser, and at the birth of Henri Du Toit, was able 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 along with her bandmates - rapper Ninja and DJ Hi-Tek. Ever since Die Antwoord rocked with their hit "Enter the Ninja" in 2010, they have firmly established themselves in the industry and cemented the image of "crazy punk innovators" that the group tries to maintain by any means necessary. 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. A variety of freaks love Die Antwoord and support them in every possible way, which is why the band's concerts have become one of the most unforgettable and energetic shows in the world of music. The crowd chants frantically: “zef”, “zef”, “zef” is the name of the South African street culture that inspired their favorite band to create such an image for themselves.

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

After the group passed the threshold of over 200 million views on their YouTube videos, Ninja and Yolandi set out to conquer the big screen, joining Hugh Jackman and Sigourney Weaver in District #9 director Neil Blomkamp's new film Chappie ". In the film, the couple plays musicians turned into gangsters who sheltered and are trying to turn the robot Chappie into a human.

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

Yolandi was born December 1, 1982 in a small provincial town in the eastern
coast of South Africa - Port Alfred. As a child, Fisser 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. According to Yolandi, growing up, she was such a "little punk" who constantly got into trouble.

"It's very strange and not like me, to be honest, because by nature I am very soft and caring."

She says she's a goth at heart ("My girlfriend and I 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 the video for 'Come To Daddy' by Alpex Twin, directed by Chris Cunningham, came out, I just prayed for it." The influence of this video can be felt in the dark, slightly bloody clip of "Ugly Boy", in which Yolandi appears as a cute, but slightly intimidating demon, with eyes as dark as a pool.

At the age of 16, Yolandi was sent to a boarding school in Yolandi, 9 hours away 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 with an unusually broad outlook for South Africa. I was extremely happy. For the first time in my life, I met people who were as creative as I am."

Yolandi never knew her mother and father, and she doesn't even want to know. She knows very little about them, only that her mother was white. Not so long ago, an artist who, by facial features, determines a person’s belonging to any race and nationality, said that Yolandi is colored (“Colored” in South Africa call 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 had doubts. Now I think I can be colored.” Yolandi believes her father may have been black. She was born during a time of bitter hostility between the white and black population and thinks that her mother's parents could force her to give the child to an orphanage, because they did not want to have a black granddaughter. But this is just a theory.

Another important factor that helped Yolandi become who she is is Ninja. Her daughter's father and bandmate Die Antwoord. “We are connected forever, we are connected in life and music. We cannot be whole without each other." Ninja's real name is Watkin Tudor Jones, he's 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.

"To be taken seriously, you have to be a very good rapper, especially if you're white," says Yolandi. Fisser met Ninja outside a nightclub in Cape Town around 2003. He was dressed in a tracksuit and sneakers to match the suit, and then he was performing in the hip-hop duo Handsome Boy Modeling School.

“When Yolandi and I first met, she said to me: “What is wrong with you? What are you dressed up in? Do not come to me". She was a little gloomy girl who looked like 13 years old. I was afraid of her.

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

“I just wanted her to say “bite the fuckers!” in her characteristic manner and her unusual voice. We went to the studio, she did what she was asked to do, and I just fell out! It was just what we needed!” Fisser told Ninja that she knew nothing about rap, and he promised to teach her everything. They were in a relationship for a while, and in 2004 she became pregnant by him.

“I was still very young - to share Yolandi - At that moment I thought: “Fuck, my life is over,” because all my friends were smoking weed and partying, and I was at home with a child. But I was very strict about my duties as a mother. There was no more weed and 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 best, because it helped Ninja and me become really 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 that they would get back together. “Many people still see us as a couple. And this is not surprising, because we have a very rare relationship, a rare union. Rather strange that we are not a couple. But it would be too hard for lovers to have a common child and a common group.

Yolandi also has an adopted son, Tokka, a boy whom she adopted a few years ago. He was then nine years old, his family lived very poorly, so Yolandi offered to take him to her place for the weekend, and then he moved to live with her.

“I have always had an inexplicable, literally subconscious 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 vagrant, then there would be no prospects for him. Everyone will give a shit about him. And now he has blossomed and become a charming boy.

In 2007, Yolandi suggested that the Ninja form a band, and that's when the first seeds of Die Antwoord were sown. Starting to work on the first tracks, they turned to DJ Hi-Tek, their good friend, for help. Soon Hitech became a mysterious figure who is always present, but always behind the scenes. Even at concerts, he usually stands behind the DJ console in a mask or in a jacket with a hood pulled down to the very nose.

“It was the start of something. There were three of us now. 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 most famous hairstyle was born.

Fisser swears she didn't have anything like that in mind until she began to feel her brutal, cyber-punk nature, while 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 blond hair and they made fun of me, calling Britney and Gaga. And I told Ninja that I needed to come up with something unique for me. I wanted to look so that my appearance expressed my soul and my personality. The ninja offered to shave off the whiskey... In that moment, I felt like I was reborn.”

Fisser's hair and white eyebrows are more like another twisted 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 shaves her temples. No one but him can touch Yolandi's hair. Fisser recalls the night that changed her whole life as if it were only yesterday. On February 3, 2010, Die Antwoord were scheduled to perform in Johannesburg.

“That day it was raining heavily and I said to the Ninja: “No one will come, in such and such a rain!”. But when we got to the venue where we were supposed to perform, people started screaming our names and stuff. I remember that night like it was yesterday: the microphone broke and the crowd sang all the lyrics for us. When I was driving home, I could not understand what had just happened to me. It feels like life has turned 180 degrees. We were like children addicted to sweets.”

That night, their video was viewed 10,000 times. The mailbox address was still listed on the band's official website, and fans began to write letters to them. The next morning, the clip was already playing on TV in the USA, and a little later a representative of the record company Interscope contacted them and offered to conclude a contract. They flew to the US to meet personally with the company's legendary founder, Jimmy Iovine.

After a while, Hollywood was already knocking on their doors. Renowned director David Fincher offered Yolandi the lead role in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

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

Fisser knew that if she shifted her focus from music to film for a year, Die Antwoord would lose themselves. Fincher kept calling her and offering to meet her, but she refused.

“If I have decided something, then my decision is final and unconditional. Even if it is incorrect. I hate doubt. Therefore, if I decide something, then I bend my line to the end.

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

“I asked Ninja to turn down the role and then we had a great fight with him. Because he is very ambitious, much more ambitious than I am. He's like, "Let's do it!" I felt that if we now go into the shadows, then the group will 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 a demo to Interscope and waited for their verdict.

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

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

We're like, "Fuck you! Why should we collaborate with an artist that we don't like and don't feel like? 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 this case. "Our contract was as thick as the Bible." But luckily for Die Antwoord, Interscope let them go without a hitch.

“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 love. 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 didn’t get everything because of luck, like Vanilla Ice.”

In 2012, the band released the album "Ten$ion" already on their label "Zef Records" and refused an offer to act as an opening act for her as part of 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 Godfather movie - everything was so in this style. And then our friend introduced us to Muggs. We have always loved his dark music. Cypress beats have always been so warm and catchy, but dark and heavy at the same time. He really hooked us and Ninja said: "We have to 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 Neil Blomkamp is also extremely organic. Instead of tailoring Die Antwoord to fit his vision, the director wrote the script based on the characters of the two. He wanted them to be themselves, not one of his inventions.

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

Despite fears that the audience would not understand Yolandi and Ninja's strong 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 based on real events with them. At the time, Ninja and Yolandi had already begun filming a documentary about their lives, but then decided that a 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 is unrealistic to produce such a thing. This can only be experienced. These stories and emotions are indescribable.” They wanted to name the show "ZEF".

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

“Die Antwoord is certainly a cool name, but it is too complicated and sounds a bit German. The meaning of our band's name is "Answer", it's 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 also couldn't be easier. But let's see what happens next, shall we?"

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 hair, white eyebrows, and the ability to combine a cute little voice with an aggressive recitation. Many interesting facts remain behind the scenes, and they will be discussed in the article.

Origin and childhood

The biography of the soloist 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 a representative of the Negroid race. As the girl herself suspects, close relatives could force her mother to abandon the child, due to racial conflicts within the country.

The girl was brought up 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 foundations of the family and the conservative atmosphere of the provincial town of Port Alfred, where she spent her childhood. The child grew up problematic and wayward. St. Dominic's Catholic School for Girls failed to tame the difficult character. At 16, Yolandi became involved in a school fight that resulted in her being expelled.

The beginning of the musical path

A troubled teenager was sent to study at the Praetorian boarding school, 9 hours away from home. Here the atmosphere was more creative, the peers were more advanced. She admits that she finally found like-minded people in the boarding school and felt free.

A classmate of our heroine was fond of experiments in the program for creating music FL-studio. As one of them, he recorded a composition with the voice of Yolandi, which was positively received and distributed by classmates. So, the future star at the age of 16 first tried herself as a participant in a creative project. But the girl did not take this experiment seriously and did not build further musical plans.

Introduction to the Ninja

After leaving school at 18, Yolandi moved with her foster parents 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 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 abilities in this direction. But she was interested in what the Ninja does. He promised to enlighten the girl in hip-hop and teach everything. Yolandi became the rapper's personal assistant and featured on some recordings. Gradually, an understanding of musical culture appeared, the ability to control one's voice and rap.

Birth of a daughter

Soon the girl became pregnant. In 2004, she gave birth to a girl, who was named Sistine. 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 the upbringing of the child from the very beginning.

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 hanging out smoking weed, she was forced to learn how to be a responsible mom. The girl admits that at some moments it was insulting, but it was worth it. And along with the growing up of her daughter, creative plans were ripening in the head of a young mother.

Birth of Die antwoord and soloist style

After the collapse of another group in which Ninja read, in 2007 Yolandi invited him to create a joint one. As a DJ, they took a mutual friend known as DJ Hi-Tek to 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 for rap-rave). The soloist of Die Antwoord characterizes it as the music of dregs who have no money, but have style.

It was necessary to create a memorable image for each participant. Yolandi then represented a typical pretty young blonde from the category of Britney Spears. A momentous change took place in 2009. The group was filming their first video, and the girl did not want to agree with the cutie image that the director saw in her. The ninja said, "Well, let's just do it!", and shaved off her whiskey. And so the famous frontwoman hairstyle was born. She admits that then she felt extraordinary energy and inspiration from how her appearance reflects her inner state. Since then, only the Ninja has touched the singer's hair.

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

Actor career

David Fincher offered the performer to star in his film The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. She categorically refused to negotiate, despite the statements of those around her that it was unforgivable to miss such an opportunity. Yolandi justified her choice by the fact that she wanted to devote herself completely to music, to do what she can and how she feels. Being true to yourself, even if it's not right in terms of commercial success. In addition, filming would practically take 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 the Robot. There are several possible reasons for agreeing to filming. Influenced by Ninja, who was always more ambitious. Probably aroused loyalty to the proposal and the South African origin of the director Blomkamp. But the most important factor, most likely, was the lack of the need to transform on the screen into another character, the ability to remain oneself. Be that as it may, participation in the film had a good effect on the recognition of 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, which could not provide him with a decent maintenance and education. Yolandi met him wandering the streets of Joburg and at first just picked up Tokki on the weekends. But I soon realized that this was not the way out, that the promising boy would get lost in the slums. 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 homeless children, they cause special sympathy.

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

Many will be interested:

• Many do not know the real name of the soloist of Die antwoord is 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 band works in Zef culture, this name fits perfectly. A pleasant bonus for herself, the soloist calls the fact that the name begins with YO!
• The girl was born on December 1, 1984. According to the sign of the zodiac, she is Sagittarius, and according to the eastern horoscope - the Rat. And now you can calculate how old the soloist 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 fullness, but due to the busy tour schedule, the weight is constantly decreasing.
• Favorite musicians: NIrvana, Nine Inch Nails, Cypress Hill, Aphex Twin, Marylin Manson, Eminem.
• The name of the group Die Antwoord in translation means "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 her great popularity in South Africa, she almost never appears without protection.
• The ill-informed people believe that Yolandi and Ninja are married. Fans dreamed for a long time that they would still be together. But there is absolutely no information about the personal life of the Die Antwoord soloist. However, Ninja is now legally married. And Yolandi has repeatedly argued that they have long been connected only by music.

Invents the culture of "Zef", creates a new hip-hop and conquers the "interweb".

Musical history remembers many cases when a young group became famous all over the world in a month. Two videos on a popular blogBoing Boing in a couple of days they made the South African group Die Antwoordtwice as popularthan Animal Collective, about three million people visited their website, and the group received about fifty thousand offers from promoters.

February 1st online Boing Boing two videos of the group appeared Die Antwoord with minimal comments about the composition of the group and links to the official page Facebook and website. Both clips were of excellent quality, which immediately cut off all thoughts of handicraft production. The first video in two weeks was watched by more than a million people - he introduced the audience to the group - rave-hip-hop was replaced by interviews with the participants (vocalist Yolandi and leader Ninja):

• Do you live together?
• No, I live with my mom and dad (Ninja points to a small house opposite)

• So what does your name mean?
• Die Antwoord translated as "answer", - the group relies on its exotic origin, tying a "new culture" to this Zef. In this context, the band's name sounds especially ambitious.

The peculiarity of this interview is that there is not a word of truth in it, as in the whole image of the group - in their interviews, clips and texts Die Antwoord talk about their street origins, use a slang word to describe themselves, their work and surroundings Zeph(which in Afrikaans means "white trash", "hillbilly" or "redneck"), humor in the spirit of golden times The Offspring and give interviews against the backdrop of a marijuana bush.

In fact, Watkin Tudor Jones ( Ninja) and the second vocalist Yolandi Visser are a couple of quite respectable citizens from wealthy families: they have been married for many years, moreover, they have a daughter, Sixteen, who will go to school very soon.

Their second video copies all the features of pop culture of the late nineties - early zero: samurai, the yin-yang symbol, tattoos, pathos in the spirit of Eminem and Fred Durst. To match all this, the simple text sounds: “I'm a ninja! Yo! I live like in a video game":

In the lyrics, the guys use two languages: English and Afrikaans, diluting them with slang Zef. Without a dictionary published on their other site, it will not be possible to parse the interview and texts.

Fred Durst tweeted about Die Antwoord

The band members have been involved in hip-hop for about ten years and managed to get their hands on various projects - a couple of years ago as part of the project MaxNormal.tv Jones wore a three-piece suit and performed white hip-hop while his drawings were projected onto the screen, illustrating one or another track.

With the principles of modern marketing "white trash" is familiar firsthand - in the coming weeks Die Antwoord start giving away your album $0$ is free. Already now on their page you can listen to the album in full, along the way paying attention to the expensive shell of the site and promotional photos of the group.

Not having time to become world famous, the group has already acquired big sponsors: Puma and Jagermeister.

FROM Judging by everything, Die Antwoord are more than serious: Ninja's immediate plans include shooting a film in 3D, and in his interviews, the rapper says that he would not mind at all if some major label signed his group. In their dreams, Die Antwoord see "Zef" as a new subculture and a symbol of the emergence of South Africa in the status of one of the centers of musical culture. As Ninja himself says in the song "Enter The Ninja": "I was told that I was a sucker, that nothing would work out for me ... So admire, we conquered Interweb!"

Today it became known that the incredible Die Antwoord will perform at UPark on the third day of the festival and will take the place of The Prodigy in the line-up, who canceled all their performances after the tragic death of Keith Flint. Of course, it is impossible to replace the unique The Prodigy and Keith, but Ninja and Yolandi are also very, very cool!

Last summer they performed in Kyiv for the first time - and everyone was absolutely delighted. This year they are preparing to release their last album, so this performance may also be the last. Do not miss!

We have collected for you 25 interesting facts about the band that you probably did not know.!

Die Antwoord is a popular South African rave band formed in Cape Town in 2008.

Extravagant, unusual and kind freaks. It seems as if they came from another planet to denounce human weaknesses, frankly ridiculing people's craving for money, fame and power. Some of their songs seem simple to the point of absurdity, but in reality they are much deeper. They are filled with self-irony and humor.

Die Antwoord are rarely interviewed and many facts about their lives remain hidden.

1. Die Antwoord in Afrikaans means ‘answer’.

2. The group consists of three musicians: Ninja, Yolandi Visser and DJ Hi-Tek.

3. Ninja's real name is Watkin Tudor Jones. He called himself 'Ninja' after many other aliases: The Man Who Never Came Back, MC Totally Rad, Yang Weapon, Max Normal, Constructus Corporation, Maxnormal.TV, Watkin Tudor Jones, Jones Junior. In Cape Town, he is most often called ‘Waddy’.

4. Ninja likes to puzzle listeners: 'I want to make songs that make people think, 'What the hell is this?'.'

5. Yolandi's real name is Henri Du Toit.

6. Yolandi was adopted and raised in a family of a priest. She has never seen her biological parents and does not know who they were.

7. In 2011, when she was 27 years old, Yolandi adopted a nine-year-old boy, Tokki.

8. Die Antwoord play Zef counterculture music, which means ‘ordinary’ or ‘hillbilly’ in Afrikaans. Yolandi explains: ‘ZEF is when you are poor but fashionable and sexy. You don't have money, but you have style.' At one time they even considered renaming the group to 'ZEF'

9. When Die Antwoord were little known, they released their debut album ‘$O$’ (2009) and distributed it for free online. It turned out to be a great way to find fans all over the world.

10. Their music video 'Enter The Ninja' got so much attention that it went viral - everyone who saw it shared the video with their friends and on their social media pages.

11. Die Antwoord created all of their videos, videos, photos and website by themselves and with the help of close friends.

12. When asked where the group gets their inspiration from, Ninja replies: ‘Yes, from a taxi! In South Africa, we have a rave constantly sausage from a taxi. You can hear it around the city. Therefore, my main source of inspiration is a taxi. Our whole album sounds like if you stand near a car and hear muzlo from there.

13. Ninja and Yolandi have a daughter named Sixteen (Sixteen).

14. Both parents have a tattoo in honor of their daughter: Ninja has the number 16 on his face, and Yolandi has a portrait of Sistine on his shoulder.

15. At the same time, Yolandi and Ninja are best friends and deny a romantic relationship.

16. Both musicians are vegetarians.

17. In 2010 David Fincher invited Yolandi to play the lead role in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Yolandi refused because she wanted to devote herself entirely to music. She says: ‘I said no because I can’t share anything with music by half. Music is my calling. I don't want to lose focus.'

18. But now the group is not averse to acting in films and in 2014, Ninja and Yolandi starred in the movie ‘Chappie the Robot’.

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 to kill 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 hail from South Africa. They are called a "rap rave group", and the trio themselves consider their style to be "zef". "Zef" is when you're poor but cool. You are poor, but 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 such a voice?". Indeed, the timbre of Yo-Landi's voice is very high, and in contrast to the aggressive recitative from Ninja and the technical beats of DJ Hi-Tek, it sounds amazing.

The work of Die Antwoord should not be taken at face value. The musicians themselves take it seriously, but it is still an art, a fictional reality with its own rules. The group names their work "mind-expanding practices" whose purpose 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 the innate musicality and sense of rhythm help the South African trinity to make tracks that are impossible not to move to.

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

With their shocking mission, Die Antwoord cope with "excellent", it can be seen from any of their clips.
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. For most casual listeners (and even more so - spectators), the musicians produce, to put it mildly, a strange impression and cause a flurry of criticism. But the guys do not despair and make a hit out of it - I Fink U Freeky (here it is - mangling words!)

In the video, the musicians gathered people with an unusual appearance, who are considered strange and ugly in ordinary life. And in the world of Die Antwoord, this is beauty that shocks, which means that it is necessary. I think you freaky and I like you a lot - sounds like a refrain, while in the black and white clip all these "freaks" dance bizarrely and smile terribly.

The weird videos don't end there. Rather, on 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 Ninja boyfriend. At a party, a guy tries to impress her with rapping, but Yo-Landi elopes with a girl who shares her LSD stamp with her. After that, the Ninja rescues his beloved from the hands of the seductress in the hope of spending the evening with her as a savior himself. But then the drug begins to take effect, and Yo-Landi, closing in the bathroom, tries to cut off his hair. The ninja is right there again: he saved the girl and did the hair himself. True, then I had to give up my hat in order to hide the “hairdressing creativity” from the already woken up parents.

Clips of Die Antwoord can really shock: there lions attack people, a man with a pit bull face gnaws the throat of a criminal, and a gynecologist removes insects - where would you think? Yes, you thought right. Blood, drugs, shots. If you do not forget that all this is just fiction, you can appreciate the serious work of the group.

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

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

Members of the group are also favorites of fashion designers. Adepts of haute couture often turn to celebrities for joint projects, and Alexander Wang invited the group to appear in a promotional video for his T by Alexander Wang collection. It's no longer "zef" but still stylish.

It's no wonder that the band's eccentric style resonates so much: Die Antwoord were the first to come up with the idea of ​​shocking the public not only with cool music, but also with frankly violent videos. It "shot" and turned out to be very timely. Now the band can even afford to turn down Lady Gaga's offer to open for her!