+
Pop Culture

South African musician created an entire album of duets with cats and it seriously slaps

You really have to hear it to believe it.

cat, viral meme, the kiffness

The Kiffness sings with a cat and it's amazing. Seriously.

If you haven't heard of The Kiffness, you're in for a treat. And if you haven't seen an alugalugging cat, you're also in for a treat. Putting them together makes a magical mashup of weird and wonderful that you just have to hear to believe.

First, let me explain the alugalugging cat thing. For some unknown reason, some cats make a strange "alugalug" sound when they're scared or upset or trying to get someone to go away.

For instance:

@ladbible

What do you think he was trying to say? 🧙‍♂️😂 🎥 @Sierra :) #ladbible #fyp #foryoupage #cats #catsoftiktok #magic

An amazing sound, right? But is it the basis for a song?

For The Kiffness, it sure the heck is.


The Kiffness is the stage name of David Scott, a musician from South Africa. He didn't start out doing cat duets and they're certainly not the only kind of music he creates, but holy moly is he incredible at them.

In fact, he has a whole cat duet album, including a song based on that same alugalug cat. Check this out:

This other alugalug cat duet has earned him millions of views and a wave of positive responses from around the world:

Not only did that duet video make its way around the internet, it also inspired people from around the world to join him in an incredible global symphonic mashup.

If you're looking for silver linings from the COVID-19 pandemic, this is one of them. There's something so perfectly pure and wholesome about the way these musicians came together with a cat to create a truly unique piece of music.

"The last two years have been really rough for a lot of people, so knowing that my music can help people in some way is very rewarding," Scott told Upworthy.

The idea for the first cat duet actually came from one of his fans.

"One day a fan asked if I could remix a cat, and at first I thought, 'Probably not.' It seemed a bit too out there, but I decided to give it a bash and the song turned out way better than I expected."

He said it was the first song he created after finding out he was going to be a dad, which had put him in a whole different headspace. More cat request videos started coming afterward and before he knew it, he'd created an entire "Cat Jams" EP.

"Without the cats, the EP wouldn't have been possible, so we donated 50% of the streaming revenue to my local SPCA," he said.

Scott had been a touring musician and producer before the pandemic hit. When COVID put live performances on hold, he started recording some parodies about how the South African government was handling the pandemic. He grew a large following, but quickly grew tired of people's divisive and hateful comments. He started remixing viral memes instead and was far more pleased with the mostly positive responses.

Since then, his fan base has only grown and he's so grateful.

"It's always really nice to know that my music helps people that are going through tough times," he told Upworthy. "I'd like to thank every person who has been vulnerable enough to reach out to me in the comments, email or DM about what they're going through. I can't always respond to every person, but I'm always touched by how much the videos mean to people."

He's also found his viral popularity to be a bit humbling.

"I'm just a regular, chilled guy from South Africa, so to be able to make music with and for people from around the world is completely mind-blowing to me," he said. "My supporters are the reason I'm able to carry on doing what I love doing, so thank you from the bottom of my heart. I'll do my best to keep delivering interesting videos."

Yes, please and thank you. You can follow The Kiffness on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok.

(And just to give you a taste of what else he's done, check out this duet with a Ukrainian singer who joined the country's armed forces after the Russian invasion.)

Health

Relationship expert shares her advice on how to 'stop an argument in its tracks'

She has the perfect question to ask once your partner gets defensive.

Therapist Lauren Consul has one trick to stop arguments before they begin.

Arguments start to take off when one partner begins to get defensive. So, therapist Lauren Consul shared her relationship-saving tip to "stop an argument in its tracks" when one partner goes into self-preservation mode.

Lauren Consul is a couples and sex therapist who’s developed a following of nearly 160,000 people on TikTok and has received over 5.4 million likes. She is an infidelity expert and hosts retreats to help people "survive and thrive" after one partner has strayed.

Keep ReadingShow less
Democracy

A police officer makes a profound statement after pulling over a Black teen

The teen’s emotional response hit him like a punch to the gut.


“Try not to become a man of success but rather try to become a man of value."

In October 2016, that was a quote from Albert Einstein that sat atop the Facebook page of Tim McMillan, a police officer in Georgia.

McMillan become a sensation after a post he wrote on his Facebook wall went viral in 2016. In his post, he explains how he pulled over a Black teen for texting while driving:

Keep ReadingShow less
Joy

Owner of plus-size dress shop gifts $700 prom dress to 'shy' teen after watching her light up

Creating moments like these is why she opened her store in the first place.

@juicybodygoddess/TikTok

Elyse Monroe found the perfect dress, then found out it costs nothing.

Adolescence is a harrowing time for body image and self-esteem all around, but few milestones are as universally daunting as finding a prom dress. Whether it’s due to budget constraints, not being able to find a dress that fits, or both, what should be a fun event is often viscerally dreaded.

This was certainly the case for Summer Lucille. Lucille told Today.com that growing up, “if you weren’t skinny, there weren’t many options, and it was devastating for me because I’ve always loved fashion.”

She recalled, “I went to my prom looking like a church lady in a suit dress with a jacket because it was the only thing that fit. It was a very sad period in my life.”

Keep ReadingShow less
via Pexels

Childless people over 50 discuss their decision.

People who decide not to have children are often unfairly judged by those who chose a different life path. People with children can be especially judgmental to women who’ve decided to opt out of motherhood.

“You will regret it!” is one of the most common phrases lobbed at those who choose to remain childless. Why do people think they’ll have such awful regrets? Because they often say they’ll wind up “lonely and sad” when they’re older.

They also say that life without children is without purpose and that when the childless get older they’ll have no one to take care of them. One of the most patronizing critiques thrown at childless women is that they will never “feel complete” unless they have a child.

However, a lot of these critiques say more about the person doling them out than the person who decides to remain childless. Maybe, just maybe, their life is fulfilling enough without having to reproduce. Maybe, just maybe, they can have a life full of purpose without caring for any offspring.

Maybe the question should be: What’s lacking in your life that you need a child to feel complete?

Keep ReadingShow less
Family

Dad's video sharing 'hardest part of co-parenting' has other separated parents relating

"I wish for peace and quiet, as does every parent when they’re overwhelmed. But then I hate it when I have it.”

@ainjole/TikTok

“Now I cherish every scream, every dirty hand print, and every spill.”

Very often, the right choice isn’t easy. Co-parenting is a prime example of this—no matter how amicable a break-up is, single parents inevitably lose time with their children after a divorce and must deal with the resulting loneliness that happens once the child leaves to spend time with the other parent. Knowing that you’ve made the right decision doesn’t necessarily take away the pain.

That’s why one dad’s video sharing his own experience of his child’s empty room is resonating with other single parents over on TikTok.

The dad, whose name appears to be Angel but goes by @ainjole on the platform, confessed in his video’s caption, “I think the hardest part of coparenting (for me) is dropping my daughter off with her mom and coming home to silence.”
Keep ReadingShow less
Science

Brazilian veterinarian gives parrot a second chance at life with a prosthetic beak

The parrot could not survive in the wild without its beak, which is used to build nests, fend off predators and eat.

Brazilian veterinarian gives parrot a second chance at life.

A parrot in Brazil got a lucky break when it was rescued after someone found it with a severely damaged beak. In fact, most of its little beak was completely gone. Birds use their hard beaks to eat, fend off other animals and build nests, and their mouths are essentially their hands while their feet are busy walking, scratching or holding twigs.

Plus, I don't know if you've paid much close attention to birds, but they don't seem to have a lot of dexterity with their tiny little bird legs. They sort of walk around like peg-legged pirates even though I'm pretty sure birds have knees. (I'm not a bird scientist or a zoologist if that wasn't clear.)

Luckily for this parrot, Renascer ACN, an animal rescue and rehabilitation facility in Planura, Brazil, had a doctor on staff who not only knows if birds have knees but also knew how to make a prosthetic beak.

Keep ReadingShow less