ST. LOUIS — In a quiet funeral home, Alfonso Foster spends many days navigating the somber realities of grief. It goes with the job of being a funeral director. But by night, he and his partner, Mario Love, are transforming the “depressing” nature of the daily grind into a viral symphony of “obnoxious” singing that’s capturing the attention of the music industry’s biggest stars.
They’ve become a fixture on TikTok, propelled by a social media trend inspired by the Sam Smith ballad “Stay With Me.” The “hidden talent” challenge typically features users revealing a secret skill to justify quitting their day jobs. For Foster and Love, the “talent” was less about vocal precision and more about a signature, polarizing sound.
“We saw the trend, and we said, ‘How can we make it different? How can we stand out from everyone else doing it?'” Foster said. “When I sing I do ‘eeeeew ahhhh’ just to be annoying … People noticed it and loved it … It’s fun to me, though.”…