Musician Dave Scott, more popularly known as The Kiffness, may not have a huge profile here at home, but he has built up a massive global following.
While the digital editor and band member who reinvented himself during the pandemic as a YouTuber may not feature much in South African media, he has recently appeared on Good Morning Britain and Voice of America, been pulled into humanitarian aid funding and racked up close to a million subscribers.
“Overseas people see me as I am — someone who stands for peace and unity, and all things that are good. But the media here seems to prefer painting me as a racist,” he said.
Scott has a colourful history and started out with political commentary. In 2017 he pushed white South Africans to become more socially aware with the song White Privilege, banned the SABC from playing his music when it failed to pay royalties to musicians and parodied the national anthem, Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika, with his version, Nkosazan’ Dlamini Trafficker, which criticised minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma’s ban on tobacco products during lockdown.
He took to YouTube full time during lockdown, creating videos that were generally relatable.
“Ag people were fed up with bans. So I sang about open-toed sandals and rotisserie chicken, and all that kind of satirical, parody stuff,” Scott said.
“I was aware it was more dangerous to speak out than stick strictly to funny stuff, but I was happy to be a voice for those who didn’t want to speak out,” he said, explaining what led him to parody the hit song Jerusalema with Julius Malema.
“During that time my eyes were opened to how the media can turn you into someone you legitimately are not. It was reported that my song got the thumbs down from South Africa, but it really did not. I was called a racist and got tired of all the hate and death threats. It just wasn’t fun any more,” Scott said.
Ag people were fed up with bans. So I sang about open-toed sandals and rotisserie chicken and all that kind of satirical, parody stuff.
So he went back to his brand of humour, flighting his material on numerous social media platforms, commenting on lockdown lows that were being experienced globally.
I Get Locked Down, to the tune of the Chumbawamba hit Tubthumping, became a pandemic cry: “I get locked down, I want banana bread while I’m chilling in my dressing gown ...” His words and art resonated, and his music gained traction with international audiences.
People sent him videos and ideas and suggested new things, leading to his first strange collaboration with Turkish singer Bilal Göregen in a “club remix” of Finnish folk tune Ievan Polkka.
“That was a light-bulb moment. There was almost no negativity, the fans united and it became my most successful video ever, with almost 40-million views,” said Scott, adding that the song went viral and he paid more than half his earnings to Göregen.
Newly enthused, he pumped out videos — “I was doing about one a week” — and his fan base grew. A request for him to collaborate on a cat video led to the creation of the strangely eerie Alugalug Cat track that notched up a new audience.
“People took to it and started sending me their own performances. It was a profound experience — a Russian girl on a flute, a Ukrainian girl with a low whistle and a girl from Brazil on a violin. But music unites and it was beautiful to see. I edited it so they are now all performing together in this haunting harmony. I was blown away at how well it worked,” he said, explaining the creation of Alugalug Cat, an International Symphonic Mashup.
“This man’s kindness is beyond anything you can imagine,” said animal lover Wilna Stanton, who was working at the Sandton SPCA when Scott approached the organisation with a fundraising idea.
“He dropped us a message to say he was going to work on an electronic album and wanted to donate a portion to Sandton SPCA. He had recently acquired a cat and had recorded all kinds of cat sounds, which he edited and then sent out on the world wide web on all his different platforms,” Stanton said.
“It generated a substantial amount of money and loads of awareness. And then when he got a second windfall, he came back to us with even more money.”
When Scott found out he was going to be a father, he “entered a whole new head space that sparked a new drive that had me making stuff that felt deeper”.
“War was breaking out and my Ukrainian fans started sending in stuff — horror mixed with beauty. A video of a little girl singing Let it Go in a bunker, someone playing a piano in their flat after it was bombed — it was stuff I just couldn’t add to,” he said.
A video of Ukrainian band Boombox’s frontman Andrii Khlyvniuk performing an old folk song in Kyiv sparked his interest.
“It had this powerful beat with a baseline. So I got hold of his manager, told him I would take no money and all the proceeds would go to the charity of his choice. I worked without sleeping and turned it around in two days.”
It had this powerful beat with a baseline. So I got hold of his manager, told him I would take no money and all the proceeds would go to the charity of his choice. I worked without sleeping and turned it around in two days.
The video has gone viral and royalties have been donated to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The song sells for $1 (about R14,50) on Bandcamp, where it has earned $12,000 (about R175,000); has been streamed 600,000 times on Spotify; made more than $5,000 (about R73,000) on Facebook and Scott has paid over the first €10,000 (about R161,000).
“I didn’t know what to expect, but I tapped into something bigger than I imagined and I feel a bit out of my depth,” he said.
“I learnt to sing in Ukrainian to be respectful and do justice, but the emotional effect has been huge. The song has become a kind of anthem in Ukraine,” said the man who is beyond chuffed with his efforts.
So what’s next?
“I am happy to be at home. I am more focused on being here for Sam’s first steps than touring the world.”
And the next project?
“I don’t know, but lots of people have been sending me videos of their babies and little kids completely transfixed watching Alugalug Cat. Maybe I’ll do some kind of universal parenting thing.”
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