The Kiffness: How Donald Trump’s outburst “They’re eating the cats” became a viral hit | Zündfunk | Bayern 2 | Radio

Anyone who has not spent the last few days with really bad internet reception could not have ignored a statement from the first debate on the American presidential election campaign between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump: “They eat the dogs, they eat the cats” was the loud statement from Donald Trump when he claimed that dogs and cats are being kidnapped and eaten by migrants in Springfield, Ohio. although there is no confirmation of this from the American city. Through the lies of Trumpen follows Bomb threats at Springfield schools and the mayor declared Trump persona non grata in his city during the election campaign.

The South African artist The Kiffness took this excerpt, added an Afrobeat and made a YouTube video out of it. In no time at all, it was viewed millions of times. David Scott, as The Kiffness is known, is known for processing viral sounds into catchy sounds. Viral cat or dog videos in particular serve as inspirationThese songs are also performed live on stages around the world with great success. Zündfunk reporter Moritz Jelting met The Kiffness with the musician after his concert at the Backstage Werk in Munich.

Zündfunk: This was your third gig in Munich and you attracted a pretty diverse audience. From children with their parents to older children, from people in everyday clothes to people in cat costumes. What is it about your music that attracts so many different people?

The Kiffness: I think it’s just the power of the internet! It’s amazing what platforms like YouTube can do. When you distribute videos on the internet, you attract all kinds of people. It’s just the internet really. I’m an unknown artist from South Africa who uploaded videos during Covid and inexplicably reached all kinds of people. I think that’s pretty unique and that most bands tend to attract a very specific audience, whereas my audience is super varied no matter where I play.

Maybe it’s the cat videos. Everyone likes cat videos.

I think you hit the nail on the head. [lacht] Cats bring all kinds of people together. Everyone loves cats and it’s just so nice to look out into the audience and see these very different people!

A particular cat video or cat song got you a lot of attention last week. The “Eating the Cats ft. Donald Trump Remix”. You played the song today, but then said that your manager advised you not to play it. Did you also hesitate to release the video?

When I made the video, I was very sure that I wanted to do that. But a lot of my content stays online and I don’t play it live. I try not to be too political in the live shows because I want the audience to stay united and Trump is a pretty polarizing figure. But the reaction to the video was so great from a lot of different people. Especially in America! Normally Democrats and Republicans are very polarizing right now, but it seems like both sides liked the video. I think that’s pretty rare. That a video like that comes out that entertains people on two different political spectrums. So I played with the idea of ​​playing the song live and told my manager. A lot of people wrote to me asking if I would play the song in Munich or Barcelona and I didn’t know what to say to them because it wasn’t part of the original plan. I also started an Instagram poll asking if I should play it live and 95% voted for it. Because of course I had to play it. So I practiced it in the hotel early in the morning before the gig and, yeah, the reaction today was great. I think I’ll keep it in the program and just hope that nobody throws anything at me on stage.

You have a good point there. But I think the people who follow me mostly know that my videos are based on bizarre moments. And most people only see the humorous part and not the political part. When I saw the statement, I just thought what an absurd statement that was. But also what a melody it had. I don’t want to give it any deeper meaning, I want to make something good out of it. That’s why all the money I make from the video goes to an animal shelter in Springfield, Ohio. That’s actually the content that I get the most joy out of. Like when I took a video of that road rage incident when the guy kept hitting the car window and I made a song out of it. That’s kind of the same thing for me. Where I can turn something insane that someone said or did into music. There’s a certain magic to that for me. Being able to turn that negative energy into something positive.

How do you approach these viral videos and sounds? Does the viral moment come first and then the beat or is it the other way around? How do you do that and how do you decide which one to use and which one not to use?

There’s no formula, but when I heard the clip for the first time, I heard this melody in Trump’s voice. I think that’s what got me hung up on. Lots of people sent me the clip too, telling me to look over there. I get sent thousands of videos every day and I have to be very selective about what works and what doesn’t. Often I try something out and it doesn’t work, so I just move on to the next clip. But with this clip, I knew straight away that there was something in it and it took maybe three minutes to create the chords and the beat. The first beat I had was pretty straightforward, it didn’t work that well, but then I tried the Afro beat and it clicked straight away. I knew then that it would be good.

The last question is about your name. Do you know what Kiffen means in German?

Yes, I know[laughs sheepishly]And I’m not a pothead, in case anyone who saw the name was wondering, I know that in German it means smoking marijuana. I have nothing against people who smoke weed. You’re welcome to come to the show, it’s probably very amusing when you’re high. But no, South Africa simply means “kiff” as “cool.” It’s just a word that I used a lot in high school. When I came up with the name, I just wanted something that sounded distinctly South African. But at the time, I had no idea what it meant in German.[laughssheepishly)AndI’mnotapotheadincaseanyonewhosawthenamewaswonderingIknowthatinGermanitmeanssmokingmarijuanaIhavenothingagainstpeoplewhosmokeweedYou’rewelcometocometotheshowit’sprobablyveryamusingwhenyou’rehighButnoSouthAfricajustmeans”kiff”and”cool”It’sjustawordthatwasusedalotinhighschoolWhenIcameupwiththenameIjustwantedsomethingthatsoundeddistinctlySouthAfricanButatthetimeIhadnoideawhatitmeantinGerman[lachtverlegen)UndichbinkeinPott-HeadfallssichdasjetztjemandgefragthatderdenNamengesehenhatIchweißdassesaufdeutschMarihuanarauchenheißtIchhabenichtsgegenMenschendieGrasrauchenIhrkönntgernzurShowkommensieistwahrscheinlichsehramüsantwennmanhighistAberneinSüdafrikaheißt„Kiff“einfachnur„cool“DasisteinfacheinWortdasichinderHighSchoolvielverwendethabeAlsichaufdenNamenkamwollteicheinfachnuretwasdasssicheindeutigsüdafrikanischanhörteAberzuderZeithatteichkeineAhnungwasesaufdeutschheißt[lachtverlegen)UndichbinkeinPott-HeadfallssichdasjetztjemandgefragthatderdenNamengesehenhatIchweißdassesaufdeutschMarihuanarauchenheißtIchhabenichtsgegenMenschendieGrasrauchenIhrkönntgernzurShowkommensieistwahrscheinlichsehramüsantwennmanhighistAberneinSüdafrikabedeuted“Kiff”einfachnur“cool”DasisteinfacheinWortdasichinderHighSchoolvielverwendethabAlsichaufdenNamenkamwollteicheinfachnuretwasdasssicheindeutigsüdafrikanischanhörteAberzuderZeithatteichkeineAhnungwasesaufdeutschheißt