So the Kneecap became the world’s most controversial
The second round at Coachella wanted to show Kneecap that they were serious. At the end of the concert, which the American festival did not broadcast live, the group therefore projected several pro-Palestinian messages on the screens. Among other things, the war of Israel was called in Gaza for a genocide, supported by the US government. During the same concert, they also got parts of the audience to sing along in the slogans « Free Palestine ».
The messages were a response to what they themselves perceived as censorship of their first festival show the weekend before, where the video from the concert was taken down from Coachella’s official Youtube channel.
Since then, the group, which has so far been in the margins of the music world, has triggered an international political storm. Irish and British politicians have condemned them, American voices have demanded that their work visa be withdrawn and gigs in Germany have been canceled. Now the group of police in Britain is being investigated for suspected terrorism. What really happened?
Trion Kneecap was formed in 2017 in Belfast in Northern Ireland and consists of rappers Mo Chara and Móglaí Bap, backed by DJ Próvaí who wears a robbery hat in the colors of the Irish flag. Ever since its inception, they have sought- and received- attention for their political plays and provocative, drug and violence-ranging texts, marinated in satire and humor. And because they rap in the Irish, language that is spoken only by a few percent of the population and which a few decades ago were primarily associated with militant nationalism and IRA’s terror in Northern Ireland, and who have now received a Swing up among young people.
The members of Kneecap flirt with the same nationalism. In one of their most famous songs, « Get your Brit’s out », for example, they mix a cocktail of stubbornness (« Get your tits out ») and controversial Republican phrases (« British out »), performed with a young and rebellious punken energy.
Like many of their fans, the trio is from a generation that grew up in the aftermath of the 1998 peace agreement, the so -called Long Friday agreement, which led to an end to decades of bloody civil war. The freedom of being able to move outside, partying and expressing themselves freely – an experience they do not share with their parents – has given this generation a greater distance to history but also a critical political awareness, which is reflected in Kneecap’s texts, says the Irish writer and journalist Róisín Lanigan in The Guardian.
The satire becomes even clearer in the baint -praised film « Kneecap » Who came last year, where the group plays screwed up versions of themselves. The film runs well with IRA, which is painted as buff clowns, and themselves as drug addicts and liars. That is, the same types that IRA used their Notorious torture methods against (and which the group retrieved its name from).
But after the concerts at Coachella has the shark around the group turned over in a backlash. One who was early in reacting was American television star Sharon Osbourne, also known as Ozzy Osbourne’s wife, who accused the group of openly supporting terror-stamped organizations, and demanded that trio’s work visa in the United States be withdrawn.
The background is two videos that have become viral, which are said to be filmed during the group’s former concerts in 2023 and 2024. In one, a member of a Hezbollah flag, and calls to the audience « up Hamas, appears up Hizbollah ». In the other, a member is calling on violence against British politicians, According to Independent.
The videos have not only aroused anger among relatives of previously murdered British politicians but also reached the highest political level. Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin has demanded a clarification and several tory politicians think Kneecap should be canceled from gigs in the UK – something that has already started to happen in Germany, reports BBC. Now the band’s gig hangs at the Glastonbury Festival loosely.
Last week came The announcement that Kneecap is also investigated by a special group within the UK police working with terrorist material online. The investigation group « has determined that there are reasons for further investigation of potential crimes linked to both videos », according to The London Police.
The controversies around the group, on the other hand, have not made the less popular. Last weeks’ events have led to a listening boom, where the currents of Kneecap’s music have doubled since the Coachella gamings. The group has also been supported by music colleagues – in one Call which was signed by Pulp, Primal Scream, Annie Mac, Paul Weller, Bicep, Fontaines DC and condemns what you consider to be « a political oppression of artistic freedom ».
Even longer, the Bristol collective Massive Attack has taken it, which in a post questioned how politicians and journalists have time to moralize over a young punk band’s stage expression « while at the same time obscuring or even ignoring a genocide that is going on in real time ».
Kneecap itself denies All accusations. They believe that they are exposed to a dirt -throwing campaign. « Let’s be completely clear: we do not support, and have never supported, Hamas or Hezbollah, » the group wrote in a longer post on Instagram where they also denied that they were called for violence against politicians: « An excerpt from a movie, which was deliberately taken out of context, is now used as a weapon, as if it were a call for action. »
Whatever Kneecap has actually said or not, it is obvious that their provocative appearance has now raised them. It is not even two years but feels like an eternity since the cocky proclaimed in The Face:
« We don’t get enough backlash, if we are to be honest. »
