Die Antwoord

Sketchy rating
Severe ?
Ratings are interpretive.
Issues
Cultural appropriation Discrimination Physical abuse Sexual abuse Violence & crime
Genre
Electronic · Hip-hop
Country
South Africa

Findings

When Description Source
2022 Their former foster son, Gabriel “Tokkie” du Preez, appeared in a 2022 video interview in which he alleged that Die Antwoord exposed him and his sister to drugs, violence, sexualized material and disturbing ritual-like scenarios, and encouraged violent behaviour. Following the publication of the allegations, social workers obtained a court order to assess the welfare of the duo’s biological teenage daughter. Die Antwoord denied the allegations. Source
2019 Australian musician Zheani Sparkes alleged that frontman Ninja drugged and sexually assaulted her in South Africa in 2013. She later filed a police report in Australia. Ninja denied the allegations. Source
2019 A video recorded in 2012 and widely circulated in 2019 appeared to show Ninja and Yolandi Visser physically confronting and shouting homophobic slurs at Andy Butler, the gay frontman of Hercules and Love Affair. Ninja claimed that Butler had first harassed or groped Visser, said the footage was misleadingly edited and denied that the confrontation was a hate crime. After the video circulated, Die Antwoord were removed from several music-festival lineups. Source
Die Antwoord have frequently been criticized for culturally appropriating Black and Cape Coloured South African identities. Some scholars and commentators have also described parts of their visual style and performances as a form of blackface, although the group’s use of racial imagery has also been interpreted as satire. Source

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