Kneecap is an Irish Hip Hop band from Belfast, Northern Ireland. Let's talk about their name and what the group is about. Firstly, "kneecap" is taken from an act called kneecaping, which paramilitaries like the Irish Republican Army (IRA) used on "political" and "normal" criminals. The group is most certainly an Irish republican band (which is NOT the same as republicans in the USA), and they make it obvious, as Dj Próvaí, the main man of the trio, wears a tricolour balaclava to keep his identity (poorly) hidden. The other two members have the stage names of Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh and Naoise Ó Cairealláin. Their themes primarily focus on "working class Belfast youth culture, Irish republicanism and Irish language rights."

Next, let's talk about some of their songs. Their first song, "C.E.A.R.T.A." was released in 2017. Unsurprisingly, it got banned from the radio station RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta, but fans started a petition which gained 300 signatures. Their most popular song, "H.O.O.D." was released in 2019, and it reached #23 on the charts in the Republic Of Ireland.

Now time for their political views. As I mentioned before, they are associated with Irish republicanism. To sum this up, it's the wish for Ireland to become one full country again, removing British rule in Northern Ireland. They also promote the use of the Irish language, which is only spoken by some 200,000 fluently. They wish to spread it especially in Northern Ireland. Despite the fact that they're republican, they are also anti-sectarian, and wish to "foster working class solidarity among Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland." One of the members have said "It doesn’t matter who you are, where you’re from. Just because we rap in Irish and might not align with your political views — we can be friends with people that we don’t align with politically."

More recently, Kneecap shows their support for Palestinian nationalism. They fly Palestinian flags at concerts and wish to boycott Israel. Just yesterday, Liam was charged with a terror offence after displaying a flag in support of Hezbollah in London in the month of November 2024. His trial is set to take place in June this year. Furthermore, in Coachella last month, they said "Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people", "It is being enabled by the US" and "Fuck Israel / Free Palestine". These messages got onto American news stations, which increased their popularity. Many people wish for their visas to be revoked for alleged "hate speech". Some other controversy they have had is a video from 2023 of one of the members saying "The only good Tory is a dead Tory. Kill your local MP."

I personally believe that they are a very good band, with good songs. Although they're not the nicest, they donated around £10,000 which they gained from a lawsuit to both protestant and catholic communities. Despite the fact that I can't defend the flag issue, I still agree with their political views (except support of hezbollah). Many people call them sectarian despite the evidence that they arent, and overall I see them as a very controversial band with good points, and not terrorists or criminals.


IMAGE ABOVE: Kneecap.


IMAGES ABOVE: Statement that Kneecap just released about the terror offence