The Kiffness

With their mix of vibrant and uplifting house music, melodic vocals and live instrumentation including piano, trumpet and saxophone, The Kiffness became the darlings of the South African live-electronic-music scene in the 2010s. The singer/songwriter/producer behind the project, David Scott, born in 1988, entered the world of music when he joined the KwaZulu-Natal Youth Choir in his teens. While working as a DJ and playing in a jazz band, the Cape Town native studied music and philosophy at Rhodes University before starting The Kiffness in the early 2010s. In 2013, The Kiffness’ first major single “Where Are You Going” followed by albums Kiff (2014) and Soul Safari (2017) showed the direction they were heading in: South African Music Awards nominations, big-name collaborations, festival headlining slots, Top 10 hits—not to mention a subsequent viral smash with a 2020 remix of Turkish musician Bilal Göregen’s cover of the Finnish classic "Ievan Polkka".