Francois Badenhorst
Fokofpolisiekar and Van Coke Kartel
Francois Badenhorst better known by his stage name Francois Van Coke, is a South African singer-songwriter, who rose to fame as the front man of South African rock bands Fokofpolisiekar and Van Coke Kartel. On the 8 April 2015, Francois launched his self-titled debut solo album and kicked his solo career into gear with the release of – Toe Vind Ek Jou featuring Karen Zoid. It was the first Afrikaans album and single to simultaneously jump to number one positions on the South African iTunes Store. The song was downloaded more than 20,000 times on iTunes, achieving Platinum status as a single. The music video for “Toe Vind Ek Jou” was viewed over a million times within six-month and was announced as the biggest Afrikaans music video of 2015. His second album, Hierdie is die Lewe followed in 2017 and in 2018 he released a collab-EP, Francois van Coke en Vriende featuring collaborations with Die Heuwels Fantasties, Early B, Laudo Liebenberg and Jack Parow. The first season of his TV show, Die Van Coke Show, aired in 2018. His third solo album, Dagdrome in Suburbia, released in October 2019.