South African multi-instrumentalist David Scott, aka The Kifness, has achieved worldwide fame thanks to his videos and remixes, notably of meowing cats. Recently, he made a splash with a song parodying the racist and fallacious remarks of Donald Trump. He is this Tuesday evening in concert in Montpellier.
He made the entire digital planet laugh with Eating the Cats ft. Donald Trump (Debate Remix), song in which he remixes the stupid and abject fib uttered on September 10 during a televised debate by the former American president: he had accused Haitian migrants of eating the pets of the inhabitants of the town of Springfield.
An absurd but sunny pop song written in haste to advise eating lots of other things rather than cats and dogs, and to put into pâté (for cats and dogs) the most indigestible of false blondes. Refusing to overinterpret his gesture, the author of this video seen more than 9.6 million times on YouTube announced that all funds generated by this video would be donated to the Springfield SPCA, an animal shelter, who has already received several thousand dollars. But who is this friendly joker?
Real name David Scott, The Kiffness is a renowned South African singer, keyboardist and producer whose electronic Music incorporates elements of pop, jazz and house but also, since his debut a dozen years ago, touches of humor. His third album, Kiff, in 2014 was nominated for the South African Music Awards. He further gains local popularity when he produces satirical songs on political subjects specific to his country, even if he doesn’t just make friends!
The pandemic does not bring him down, quite the contrary: it increases his home-made creativity tenfold and ensures him a “captive” audience: his Lockdown parodies are hilarious and very well done, and his Internet collaborations with various animals and personalities, simply astonishing ! His remix of Ievan Polkka (with Turkish percussionist Bilal Göregen) has been viewed over 66 million times.
His cover of Bob Marley’s Three Little Birds, sung by Rylyn, an adorable toddler, is even more moving when we learn that the boy has since been diagnosed with Lyme disease; the video, will help finance his hospitalization. As for its (numerous) associations with cats with meows, each one more bizarre than the last, they are irresistible (try Alugalug cat, I go meow or Hay hee. but beware: we won’t believe it!).
With over 2.5 million subscribers on YouTube, 3 million followers on Facebook and one million monthly listeners on Spotify, The Kiffness is today one of South Africa’s leading online creators. But above all he is an artist, a real one, a kindly activist and kindly committed, plurally gifted, who tours IRL and plays live. It’s this Tuesday evening at Rockstore, in Montpellier. You haven’t seen anything like this!
