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Rave-rap trio Die Antwoord had music fans and critics confused when they appeared on the scene, trying to work out whether they were a surrealist spoof or South Africa's version of Eminem. Front man Watkin Tudor Jones originally grew up in Johannesburg and previously dressed in smart suits and rapped under the name Max Normal in the style of an unconventional motivational speaker. Anri du Toit was part of his collective too, and built her persona of Yolandi Visser around a street kid who had rats for pets and sang in falsetto with a pronounced South African accent. With Jones evolving into the character of Ninja, a scowling redneck rhyme slinger, the pair became Die Antwoord (which translates as 'the answer') when they moved to Cape Town in 2008 and teamed up with the mysterious, masked DJ Hi-Tek. Early singles 'Wat Pomp' and 'Beat Boy' gained them a cult following in their homeland before their track 'Enter the Ninja' became a viral hit. Claiming to represent the zef culture of young, working class, white South Africans influenced by US hip-hop, the group released their debut album '$O$' online for free before landing a major deal with Interscope Records and teaming up with superstar producer Diplo for follow-up single 'Evil Boy' in 2010. A dispute with the label saw them promptly dropped, but they returned more controversial than ever on 2012 album 'Ten$ion' and fell out with Lady Gaga after depicting her visiting the gynaecologist and being eaten by a lion in their video for 'Fatty Boom Boom'. In 2015 they moved to Los Angeles to collaborate with DJ Muggs from Cypress Hill on mixtape 'Suck On This'. They also worked with Jack Black, Dita Von Teese and Cuban rapper Sen Dog on the album 'Mount Ninja and Da Nice Time Kid' which reached number 34 in the US charts. Over the years Ninja and Yolandi's daughter Sixteen Jones has occasionally featured in their videos. They also appeared as gangsters in the sci-fi movie 'Chappie' and appeared in a modelling campaign for designer Alexander Wang, before returning with single 'Alien' and a 2018 album '27'.
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