“Cute Aggression” - A Fun New Anthem for Pet Parents

Anthony Vincent is a musician with a massive online following – 3.46 million subscribers on YouTube, as of this writing. He’s known for his incredible ability to mimic the vocal and musical styles of artists across a wide range of genres. Sometimes, he’ll choose a song and perform it in multiple styles. Other times, he’ll cover one song by a famous artist by singing it in another band’s style – a recent example is “ Flowers in the style of Ghost.” Followers can’t wait to see what he’ll do next, often putting in requests for songs and styles that they want to see. 

In addition to sharing his musical talents, Anthony has also posted about his cat, Pyretta, who has  her own Instagram account. And this year, he started writing fun original tunes about his kitty, but one that really took off is “Cute Aggression.” 

The heavy metal song went viral on social media, so Anthony created an official video using footage submitted by his followers, showcasing their lovable pets, and even created merch that fans can purchase from his website. 

Check out the music video below:

Wait, Is Cute Aggression a Real Thing? What Is Cute Aggression?

Sure, this new song, which is available on streaming platforms like Spotify, could be a funny anthem for pet parents, but is cute aggression a real thing? Yes, it is!

In 2013, experts at Yale discussed their findings on cute aggression, and additional research has been done since then. Put simply, if you feel strong emotions when looking at a cute animal, and you just want to grab and squeeze them because you’re so excited, you may be experiencing cute aggression. 

Is cute aggression normal? Yes. Many people experience this when looking at a human baby, baby animals, and pets. It’s a type of dimorphous expression, another example of which is crying when you’re really happy. Experts think that this might be the brain’s way of balancing the emotions. In other words, when you’re looking at something adorable and you’re overwhelmed with positive emotions, cute aggression might come in to help regulate the way you feel.  

With cute aggression, the key is that you don’t actually want to harm the baby or animal, and you don’t act aggressively towards them either. Instead, you want to interact with and care for them in a nurturing and protective way.  

We think Anthony Vincent did a great job of explaining cute aggression in his song, so give it a listen and follow along with the lyrics if you haven’t yet.