By Steuart Pennington
Most of www.sagoodnews.co.za readers will have come across The Kiffness in one way or another, probably most recently in what is called an Internet Collaboration (Internet Collab) when music was put to the Donald Trump election speech video claiming the residents of Springfield USA ate domestic dogs and cats https://youtu.be/3BrCvZmSnKA?si=cI5UiqLqicqghYkP
I was interested whether David Scott founder of The Kiffness (2010) and a trained sound production specialist did more than just parody, political satire and internet collabs!
It turns out, considerably more.
The Kiffness – Music
But let me start with his music and his cause. The Springfield U-tube video had over 50 million views and all the revenue generated he donated to the Springfield SPCA – $70 000 and still counting. Good man!
David’s mission is to find worthy causes like the humanitarian crisis in the Ukraine https://youtu.be/lu8m5FA2nL8?si=UVsLAnrfDYO3Uq5W sung by local vocalist Chervona Kalyna Oy Uluzi remix it as an unofficial national anthem, post it on U-tube and raise financial aid for Ukrainian soldiers and their families- David raised $100 000 and still counting! Later to be picked up by Pink Floyd to add more $
David is also passionate about unearthing local talent, assisting them popularize their work and earn revenue, essentially by sidetracking the conventional approach of being promoted by a Label, hiring a studio, and earning a meagre distributor’s commission “We don’t need Labels anymore, a simple recording which finds its way onto Tiktok or U-tube can earn the creators decent money” David finds and works with locals like The Joy, Onset Music, helps with the remix and posting with a decent revenue model.
See here for further examples of David’s Internet Collabs
There is now global demand for David’s music with tours to Europe; 18 shows in 19 days- and the USA completed; 11 shows East to West Coast; and with tours planned for 2025 in Europe, UK, Australia and USA.
“Over the years I’ve moved from parody to political satire to Internet Collabs, the first two were quite divisive, the latter more universally appealing and unifying – I currently have 3 million U-tube followers.”
The Kiffness – Social Justice
It doesn’t stop there. During COVID with shows banned for two years David started investigating whether royalties for his music was being properly administered. He explains “SAMRO (South African Music Rights Organisation) with 20 000 members looks after song writers and their royalties; SAMPRA (South African Music Performers Rights Association) with 40 000 members looks after the artists who perform the song and their royalties. By way of example, if Sugar Man by Sixto Rodriguez is played on a radio station SAMRO would pay his song writer’s royalty and SAMPRA the artists who performed the song. What I discovered was that SABC was not paying royalties to SAMPRA, whereas other radio stations were.
I discovered that the SABC owes R250 million in unpaid royalties to SAMRO and SAMPRA, so the first thing I did was ban the SABC from playing my music. Second thing I did was organize a ‘No pay – No play” campaign amongst fellow musicians. The third thing I did was refine Radio Monitor so that every musician can access the necessary data to claim their royalties.
David summarises “Fortunately we’ve moved on from there, social media is now much more accessible and more remunerative than radio, for example, Jerusalema had a much greater presence on social media than radio.”
The Kiffness-Social Media
“I like to tweet, I think previously mainstream media were a one-way street with a particular agenda staffed by ‘click-bait’ journalists who created ‘fake outrage’ to engender readership ‘click’ numbers and get away with it. Now social media voices can counter this bias, if the media tells a lie, you can immediately hit them back with the truth, for example the Jan Braai ‘racist’ boerie rolls distortion. See my response and the Social media pushback! The offending media source Media 24 quickly backed down.
https://x.com/thekiffness/status/1838258826044133879?s=46
For me social media enables the sharing of ideas which deserve attention, yes, there is much rubbish out there, but a truly balanced debate is now more possible.
Conclusion
I admire people who have a strong sense of social justice and a preparedness to challenge the status quo. I admire those who will stand up and be counted. I admire those who use their God given talents to do both. Many South Africans tick these boxes. For twenty years I have been writing weekly articles in my portal ‘SA Hero’ https://www.sagoodnews.co.za/doctor-turns-personal-blood-cancer-battle-into-stem-cell-donor-registration-drive/ about the extraordinary contribution that ordinary citizens make to the fabric of our South African character, I’ve never lacked material.
David Scott of The Kiffness is one such South African, one such Hero.
