Biography Yolandi Fisser
Yolandi Visser is a South African singer and actress with a unique voice and style. The vocalist of the rap-rave group Die Antwoord, who manages to successfully maneuver between melodic melodic melodies with a childish voice and aggressive recitative.
Childhood and youth
Yolandi Fisser (real name Henri Du Toit) was born on December 1, 1984 in the small resort town of Port Alfred in eastern South Africa. She was adopted as an infant by a local Christian minister and his housewife wife. Yolandi has an older brother who is also an adopted child.
She never saw her real parents. Yolandi鈥檚 mother is white, and her father is a representative of the Negroid race, and since the girl was born in the difficult times of Apartheid for the country (a period of racial segregation), her maternal grandmother forced her daughter to abandon the child of mixed blood. At least, Fisser herself adheres to this version.
Henri attended St. Dominic鈥檚 Catholic School for Girls. Since childhood, the future outrageous singer felt that she was very different from her peers. She was a real rebel (鈥渓ittle punk,鈥 as Yolandi described herself in her youth), often getting into fights with classmates. When she was 16 years old, she was expelled from school for bad behavior, so she completed her education at a boarding school in Pretoria (one of the three capitals of South Africa).
The institution was located 9 hours drive from the parental home, but a creative atmosphere reigned within its walls. Here her creativity finally found an outlet. 鈥淔or the first time I talked with the same creative, artistic guys!鈥 she recalled.
Musical career
The fateful event in the life of Anri was moving to Cape Town in 2003 and meeting rapper Watkin Tudor Jones (Ninja from Die Antwoord). Then Die Antwoord was not in the plans 鈥 there was only the rap group The Constructus Corporation, in which, in addition to Watkin, Felix Laband was a member. The team lasted only about a year and released one album 鈥淭he Ziggurat鈥 鈥 already there you can hear the voice of Yolandi.
At the time, she didn鈥檛 know anything about hip-hop, but Watkin, who arranged auditions for her at his studio, was impressed: 鈥淪he showed me her skills, and I was like, 鈥楢aaah!’鈥 He promised to teach her everything he knows.
Subsequently, together Yolandi, Watkin, as well as producer and musician Hi-Tek (Justin De N贸brega) and rapper Neon Don founded the MaxNormal.tv collective. The team was named after a character in the 1970s British science fiction anthology 2000 AD. For several years of existence, the group released two albums.
In 2008, the band Die Antwoord was formed, which means 鈥渁nswer鈥 in Afrikaans. The team included Yolandi, Ninja and DJ Hi-Tek. DieAntwoord became part of the South African counterculture genre known as Zef. This movement is associated with the 鈥渨hite鈥 petty-bourgeois subculture of South Africa.
According to Yolandi, 鈥淶EF is when you are poor, but fashionable and sexy. You don鈥檛 have money, but you have style.鈥
The group鈥檚 debut album 鈥$O$鈥 was released in 2009. The record, which included the hits 鈥淓nter the Ninja鈥, 鈥淩ich Bitch鈥 and 鈥淪uper Evil鈥, as well as the unusual video 鈥淓nter the Ninja鈥, attracted the attention of listeners and critics from all over the world. Soon the group signed a contract with the American record label Interscope Records and began working on the release of video clips and new singles.
The videos of the group are distinguished by specificity and bright colors and tell about the life of ordinary people in South Africa. According to the artists, 90-95% of the people in the videos are their friends or acquaintances from the area.
In 2010, director David Fincher seriously considered Yolandi for the lead role in his film The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. She refused any negotiations: 鈥淚 firmly decided that I would devote my life to music. No matter how cool this offer was, and even if I later regret it, no. As a result, the main character of the film was Noomi Rapace.
In 2011, Die Antwoord founded their own label, Zef Recordz, under whose auspices they released their second and third studio albums, TEN$ION (2012) and Donker Mag (2014). In 2011, they filmed a 15-minute short film, Give Me My Car, in which they appeared as wheelchair users in kugurumi.
In 2015, Yolandi and Jones made their debut in Neil Blomkamp鈥檚 Hollywood film Chappie, about the first robot capable of thinking and feeling. The film also featured Slumdog Millionaire star Dev Patel, Hugh Jackman and Sigourney Weaver. Several Die Antwoord compositions were used in the film. The picture received mostly negative reviews from critics, but brought public attention to the group.
The group鈥檚 fourth album, Mount Ninji and Da Nice Time Kid, was released in 2016. The disc included joint tracks with American rapper Sen Dog, burlesque queen Dita Von Teese, singer and actor Jack Black.
Yolandi Fisser鈥檚 personal life
Yolandi and her bandmate share more than just a working relationship. In 2006, their daughter Sixteen was born, but they are officially married or not, is unknown.
Today, Sistine sings in The Boy With the Rainbow Face with his daughter Flea (bassist of the Red Hot Chili Peppers).
In 2010, Fisser and Ninja adopted Tokki, a 9-year-old street child from a nearby area.
I have always had a maternal connection with street children and outcasts. I saw a certain potential in Tokki and realized that he did not belong on the street. I didn鈥檛 care. Now he has grown up and become the most charming boy.
The children of the artists appeared several times in the group鈥檚 videos, and the photo with the newborn Sistine adorns the group鈥檚 album MaxNormal.tv.
Yolandi Fisser now
Die Antwoord鈥檚 new album, The Book of Zef, is expected to be released in 2018. The musicians are actively touring around different cities and countries of the world, presenting to listeners some songs from the new album, including the single 鈥淟ove Drug鈥.
The musicians fueled rumors that this record would be their final. However, in the same press release, they stated that they had no plans to disband the group.