South African musician created an entire album of duets with cats and it seriously slaps
You really have to hear it to believe it.
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.)
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An actual beaver dam on the now-thriving Price River
Not just coworkers—family, friends, strangers, kids…
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Honestly…where's the lie?
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Urgent dash to the bathroom! 🚪🏃♂️
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There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."