Yolandi Visser
South African singer/rapper (born 1984) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Anri du Toit (born 3 March 1984), known professionally as Yolandi Visser (stylised as ¥o-Landi Vi$$er),[2] is a South African singer, rapper, and songwriter. She is one of two vocalists in the alternative hip-hop group Die Antwoord, along with Watkin Tudor Jones.
Yolandi Visser | |
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Visser performing with Die Antwoord in 2019 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Anri du Toit |
| Also known as | Anica the Snuffling |
| Born | 3 March 1984 Port Alfred, South Africa |
| Genres | |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 2002–present |
| Labels |
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Visser appeared in the 2015 Neill Blomkamp film Chappie.[3]
Early life
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Anri du Toit was born on 3 March 1984 in Port Alfred, South Africa.[4] She was adopted by clergyman Reverend Ben du Toit, who worked as the director of communications for the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa in 2012, and his wife, and had an adoptive older brother, Leon (d. 2015).[5][6] Growing up, she has said she felt like she did not fit in or belong anywhere, and describes herself as 'a little punk' who frequently got into fistfights, and listened to the music of Nirvana, PJ Harvey, Nine Inch Nails, Cypress Hill, Eminem, Marilyn Manson and Aphex Twin.[4][7] At the age of 16, du Toit was sent to Pretoria to attend Die Hoërskool Menlopark, a boarding school which was nine hours away from her family's home. Du Toit said that she blossomed among other creative and artistic-minded people while there.[4]
Du Toit does not know anything about her biological parents, besides the fact that her mother was classified as white, and questioned her ethnicity after a portrait artist "specializing in identifying genetic history" told her she has "a facial structure similar to coloureds." Visser initially thought she was white, but speculated that because she was born during apartheid, that her father may have been Black, and that her mother had been forced to give her up for adoption, as sexual relations between different racial groups were illegal in 1984.[7]
Career
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The Constructus Corporation
Du Toit was asked by Watkin Tudor Jones (aka "Ninja") to lend vocals for his project The Constructus Corporation.[4] She was credited as Anica the Snuffling.[8] The band released their debut and only album The Ziggurat in 2003.[9]
MaxNormal.TV
Du Toit was a member of the South African 'corporate' hip-hop group MaxNormal.TV, in which she played the role of Max Normal's personal assistant. In MaxNormal.TV, she went by the stage name Yolandi Visser.
In the song "Tik Tik Tik", du Toit's fictional backstory is detailed. The song claims that she was born into poverty in a large family, and eventually ran away out of boredom and loneliness. In "Option A", she meets a drug dealer, and eventually begins working for him, transporting drugs in exchange for food and money. She becomes addicted to meth, and regrets her choices. In "Option B", she ignores the drug dealer when he tried to talk to her, and instead begins working at a cafe, and rents a room there. She then is offered to join MaxNormal.TV after watching a rap show outside the cafe.[10]
The group released their debut and only album Good Morning South Africa in 2008.[11] A DVD featuring 13 skits, music videos and short films was released in the same year, titled Goeie Morge Zuid Afrika.[12]
Die Antwoord
Du Toit is currently a member of the South African rap-rave group Die Antwoord. The group was formed by du Toit, her then-partner Tudor Jones, and producer HITEK5000 (formerly referred to as DJ Hi-Tek and God). They have since added a second producer Lil2Hood.[13]
Die Antwoord is part of the South African counterculture movement known as zef. For the band, du Toit goes by the stage name ¥o-Landi Vi$$er. She styled her hair into a bleach-blonde mullet at the start of the band, which was originally done to have an edge. She has said cutting her hair felt like a birth, and a statement of outsider and zef pride.[4]
The band released their debut album $O$ in 2009. It was made freely available online and attracted international attention for their music video "Enter the Ninja". They briefly signed with Interscope Records, and left after pressure from the label to be more generic. du Toit explained that Interscope "kept pushing us to be more generic" in order to make more money: "If you try to make songs that other people like, your band will always be shit. You always gotta do what you like. If it connects, it's a miracle, but it happened with Die Antwoord."[14] They formed their own independent label, Zef Recordz and released their second album Tension through it.[15]
They have since released three other albums: Donker Mag in 2014,[16] Mount Ninji and da Nice Time Kid in 2016, and House of Zef in 2020.[17] As well as this, du Toit played a self-styled role as ¥o-Landi Vi$$er in the 2015 Neill Blomkamp film Chappie.[3]
Personal life
Du Toit has a daughter named Sixteen (b. 2005) with Watkin Tudor Jones.[18] Du Toit and Tudor Jones also adopted or fostered three children.[19]
In 2019, a video from 2012 surfaced, showing Tudor Jones and Visser fighting and hurling homophobic slurs against Andy Butler, founder of the American dance project Hercules and Love Affair.[20] Tudor Jones claimed that the person who filmed the video edited it to make it seem like they were in the wrong.[21][22]
Discography
The Constructus Corporation
- The Ziggurat (2003)
MaxNormal.TV
- Rap Made Easy (2007)
- Good Morning South Africa (2008)
Die Antwoord
- $O$ (2009)
- TEN$ION (2012)
- Donker Mag (2014)
- Mount Ninji and da Nice Time Kid (2016)
- House of Zef (2020)
Filmography
References
External links
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