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You can usually rely on Portland's resident rapping feline enthusiast to inject some feel-good content into your social media timeline. But the last few days, Moshow the Cat Rapper's feeds have been filled with sadness, as his sphynx, Tali, died last week due to heart failure.
"This was unexpected and happened in the blink of an eye," Moshow, born Dwyane Molock, wrote on Facebook. "I'm destroyed and a part of me is dead in the inside."
Molock moved to Portland from Maryland in 2015, shortly after he began his viral rap career. Since then, he's become local legend and icon of cat person culture, releasing two EPs, an album, dozens of videos and two coloring books. His songs feature bars about cats, and his music videos include cameos from Molock's five adopted felines. A video in which Molock raps while giving his cat Ravioli a bath has over 7 million views. He's even been interviewed by Buzzfeed.
Tali was one of the first cats that Molock adopted, and is the mother of two of Molock's other pets, Queen Sushi and MegaMam. She's appeared in most of Molock's videos, including the recent "Catta$tic," which features Tali perched on Molock's shoulder, and Queen Sushi and MegaMam crawling on his head. He also recently, he released his second coloring book, IAmMoshow the Cat Rapper: Cattastic Edition, which features Tali's likeness.
Molock's tributes to Tali have received outpourings of support online.
"She was a amazing cat and boy did we have some fun times," Molock wrote in another post. "I miss you so much Tali. I hope you can look at Facebook in kitty heaven and read this."
Related: Moshow Always Felt Like an Outcast—Until He Started Rapping About Cats