Who is Yolandi Visser?
Anri du Toit, known better by her stage name Yolandi Visser (¥o-Landi VI$$ER), was born in Port Alfred, Eastern Cape, South Africa, on 3 March 1984 – her zodiac sign is Pisces, and she holds South African nationality. She’s a rapper and actress, whle she’s probably known best for being the vocalist of the rap rave group Die Antwoord.
Early life and education
Yolandi hasn’t shared many details concerning her biological parents with the public – it’s widely known that she was adopted by Reverend Ben du Toit and his wife when she was still a baby; she had an adoptive brother, Leon, who passed away in 2015.
Yolandi was a problematic teenager, and has described herself as ‘a little punk who didn’t think that she belonged anywhere’; she was often involved in fistfights, and was threatened with expulsion from school on multiple occasions.
When she was 16, her adoptive parents sent her to a boarding school nine hours away, and Yolandi’s later admitted that this was the best thing that happened to her, because she was able to ‘blossom amongst other artistic and creative people’.
Upon matriculating in 2002, she chose not to pursue a college degree, but to focus on her career as a rapper.
Career as a rapper
Yolandi’s career was launched in 2002, when Watkin Tudor ‘Ninja’ Jones asked her to sing in his South African electronic music group The Constructus Corporation; they released only a single album, in 2003, entitled “The Ziggurat”.
She gained some recognition in the following years, when she became a member of the South African hip hop group MaxNormal.TV, especially after they recorded the song “Tik Tik Tik”. It relates how Yolandi was born into a large poor family, and that she ran away because she was lonely and bored; she gives herself two options in the song, one to become a drug dealer and become addicted to meth, and the second to start working at a café and join MaxNormal.TV. Even though Yolandi’s story in the song is fictional, many of her fans believed that it was really her life story.
Yolandi’s today a member of Die Antwoord, a group which she co-founded together with Ninja and music producer HITEK5000; the group today comprises one more producer, Lil2Hood, and is part of the South African counter-culture movement Zef. Their debut album “$O$” was released in 2009, and was available for downloading on the internet for free. They became somewhat popular following the release of their single “Enter the Ninja”, which was also when they signed a contract with Interscope Records, however, Die Antwoord soon left Interscope because of the pressure to make more generic music. They then formed their own label Zef Records, and their second album “Ten$ion” was released on 29 January 2012.
Die Antwoord's 2014 album, Donker Mag peaked at #11 in Australia, #15 in Canada, #26 in Belgium, #32 in New Zealand, #37 in USA #49 in Holland, #71 in Switzerland, #95 in Germany, #103 in UK, #193 in France, #4 on US Independent Albums, #18 on UK Independent Albums. pic.twitter.com/D2Yqgf4CkQ
— Africa Facts Zone (@AfricaFactsZone) April 22, 2021
In 2014, they released their third album “Donker Mag”, and most recently, in 2016 they released their fourth album “Mount Ninji and da Nice Time Kid”.
Acting credits
Yolandi’s appeared in 20 films, 17 of which were Die Antwoord music videos.
She made her debut film appearance in the 2011 short comedy drama “Umshini Wam”, written and directed by Harmony Korine, and in which she starred alongside Ninja and Hector Bezuidenhout. It follows a South African couple in wheelchairs who have guns, and are trying to prove that they’re not to be messed with.
In 2015, Yolandi played a supporting character in the popular action crime drama “Chappie”, written and directed by Neill Blomkamp, and which starred Sharlto Copley, Dev Patel and Hugh Jackman. Set in a world in which crime is controlled by a mechanized police force, one of the police droid has been kidnapped and reprogrammed, which allows him to think for himself; the movie was nominated for three awards.
Yolandi’s only other role has been her portrayal of Rat Girl in the 2017 short horror comedy “Tommy Can’t Sleep”, which she also wrote and directed. It starred Sixteen Jones, Jack Black and Liz Carey, and follows Little Tommy who’s been invited to go down the rat hole by Rat Girl.
Controversy
In 2012, Yolandi and Ninja had a fight with Andy Butler, founder of the dance group Hercules and Love Affair, at the Australian festival Future Music. They insulted Andy and called him a ‘faggot’ – it’s widely known that Andy identifies as gay. When the security staff came, Yolandi began crying and claimed that Andy had sexually assaulted her in a bathroom, while Ninja then told her that she’d put on an Oscar-winning performance.
The video of the entire incident was only uploaded onto the internet seven years later, in 2019, and went viral. Yolandi and Ninja have defended themselves by saying that the video was edited to make them look bad, but they were still dropped from performing at a couple of festivals.
Love life and relationships
Yolandi was in a relationship with her bandmate Ninja, and they have a daughter Sixteen Jones, born in 2005.
She’s adopted three children: a boy Tokkie and girl Meisie in 2010, and a boy Jemile in 2015.
Tokkie was born as Gabriel du Preez, and in April 2022, he accused Yolandi and Ninja of physically and sexually abusing both him and his sister Meisie; he’s also accused them of neglect, claiming that he hadn’t seen either of them in two years.
Yolandi was also in a relationship with American DJ, record producer and audio engineer DJ Muggs.
She hasn’t mentioned any other men whom she’s perhaps been with, and as of August 2022, Yolandi seems to be single, hasn’t married, and has a biological daughter with former boyfriend Ninja, as well as three adoptive children.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BmZokCwFuCC/
Hobbies and other interests
Yolandi doesn’t have her own Instagram account, but her group Die Antwoord’s account is today followed by over a million people, while they’ve only uploaded four pictures onto the network.
She’s passionate about travelling, and her career’s taken her all around the world, while her dream travel destination’s Los Angeles, California.
Yolandi’s a huge animal lover, with some of her favorites being elephants, lions and tigers.
She enjoys watching movies late at night – her favorite actor and actress are Will Smith and Helena Bonham Carter, while some of her favorite films are “Bad Boys”, “I, Robot” and “Fight Club”.
Age, height and net worth
Yolandi’s age is 38. She has long blonde hair and brown eyes, her height is 5ft (1.55m) and she weighs around 110lbs (50kgs).
As of August 2022, her net worth is estimated at over $10 million.
