Watkin Tudor Jones | |
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.jpg) Jones in 2015 | |
| Background information | |
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| Born | (1974-09-26)26 September 1974 (age 51) |
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| Years active | 1993–present |
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Watkin Tudor Jones (born 26 September 1974),[4] better known by his stage namesNinja andMax Normal, is a South African rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor. Tudor Jones found international success as a member ofDie Antwoord, withYolandi Visser. He was formerly a member ofMax Normal andThe Constructus Corporation.
Tudor Jones also has had a number of acting roles, including a self-styled role as Ninja in the 2015Neill Blomkamp filmChappie.[5]
Watkin Tudor Jones was born on 26 September 1974 inJohannesburg, South Africa. He attendedParktown Boys' High School where he met his The Original Evergreen band members. Tudor Jones frequented nightclubs where he developed his skills as a rapper.[6]
Tudor Jones was part of the South African rap band The Original Evergreen, which was signed toSony Music.[7] He released one single with the group, "Puff the Magik", which was banned from radio for its controversial lyrics aboutmarijuana usage. In 1996, after the track would later win a SAMAmusic award forBest Rap Album award, he left to release a solo album under Chameleon Records[8] and later form Max Normal. The band releasedBurn the Evidence in 1997, which caused more notoriety in the South African music scene. In 1998, the band resurfaced inCape Town with a new lineup featuring Brendon le Roux (vocals), Sebastian Voigt (bass, programming), Richard Bruyns (guitar), Stephen Trollip (saxophone), Phat Jack (turntables),Tasha Baxter (vocals) and Sven Mc Alpine (drums), and played extensively in Cape Town and Johannesburg while working on a new album titledAddictive Personalities, produced byWarrick Sony (Kalahari Surfers) and featuring a guest appearance byArno Carstens (Springbok Nude Girls). The album was to be released on theSheer Sound label. Still, it caused such uproar in the South African press due to the contents of its lyrics that Sheer Sound was forced to withdraw it and was the final chapter in The Original Evergreen story as it resulted in the band splitting up. The albumAddictive Personalities was released in a limited run by Melt 2000 in 1999.
In 2001, Tudor Jones released his debut solo albumMemoirs of a Clone.Produced by Adrian Levi and Waddy Jones.[9]Memoirs of a clone was Produced by Waddy Jones and Adrian levi and released through Chameleon Records.At the time, he was the lead vocalist ofMax Normal, a hip hop act, which released their debut album entitledSongs From The Mall in 2001, which he disbanded in 2002.[10] Their last gig was played withFaithless on the group's 2002 South Africa tour.[7]
When Tudor Jones disbanded Max Normal in early 2002, he and musician Sibot invitedMarkus Wormstorm andFelix Laband to collaborate on The Constructus Corporation project, which resulted in the concept album and graphic novelThe Ziggurat, released on 3 June 2002.[11]
Tudor Jones asked Anri du Toit, better known as his Die Antwoord bandmateYolandi Visser to lend vocals for the project. She was credited as Anica the Snuffling.[12]
The Constructus Corporation disbanded in 2003.
In 2005, Tudor Jones released his second solo albumThe Fantastic Kill.[13] It was released in France in 2007 asMC Totally Rad And DJ Fuck Are Fucknrad under the name Fucknrad.[14]
In 2007, Tudor Jones resurrected and revamped Max Normal as the 'corporate' hip-hop group "MaxNormal.TV".
The new lineup consisted of Watkin Tudor Jones revising as Max Normal, and Anri du Toit asYolandi Visser. The band also featured Neon Don playing various recurring characters andJustin De Nobrega making instrumentals.
The group released its debut and only albumGood Morning South Africa in 2008.[15] A DVD featuring 13 skits, music videos and short films was released in the same year, titledGoeie More Zuid Afrika.[16]
Tudor Jones is currently a member of the South African rap-rave groupDie Antwoord. The group was formed by Tudor Jones as Ninja, Anri du Toit asYolandi Visser, and producerJustin De Nobrega as HITEK5000 (formerly referred to as DJ Hi-Tek and God). They have since added a second producer, Lil2Hood.[17] Die Antwoord is part of the South African counterculture movement known aszef.
The band released its 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 withInterscope Records, and left after pressure from the label to be more generic. du Toit explained that Interscope "kept pushing us to be more generic" 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.".[18] They formed their ownindependent label, Zef Recordz and released their second albumTen$ion through it.[19]
They have since released three other albums:Donker Mag in 2014,[20]Mount Ninji and da Nice Time Kid in 2016,[21] andHouse of Zef in 2020. As well as this, Tudor Jones played a self-styled role as Ninja in the 2015Neill Blomkamp filmChappie.[5]
Tudor Jones has a daughter named Sixteen (b. 2005) withYolandi Visser.[22] Tudor Jones and Visser also have adopted or fostered three children.[23]
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 projectHercules and Love Affair.[24] Both Tudor Jones and Visser later said the person who filmed the video edited it to make it seem like they were in the wrong.[25][26][27]
In May 2022, one of Visser and Ninja's adoptive sons appeared in a 45-minute-long video interview published by the South African news organizationNews24, in which he described his childhood growing up with them. He stated that the duo adopted him "to be a slave"; exposed him to drugs, gang activity, pornography, and weapons; convinced him that he was "the king of hell"; encouraged violent behavior between him and his brother; told him to mock his biological family for being poor as they recorded it; abandoned him with anau pair for two years inJohannesburg while they lived inLos Angeles; and sexualized his older adoptive sister.[28] He added that he had cut off all contact with them two years prior to the interview. Die Antwoord denied the claims and called them fabrications in a statement posted to their website.[29] The au pair and Die Antwoord's photographer Ben Jay Crossman, who described Die Antwoord as "violent people" whom he "want[ed] nothing to do with", both corroborated the duo exposing the adoptive son to drugs, violence, and sex.[30][31]
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