Last week Belfast hip-hop act Kneecap posted a tweet quoting “some fella from Dublin” asking them, “Why would you rap in Irish? No one even speaks it”, above a photo of one of their recent sold-out shows, rammed from front to back, and one lad at the barrier on it with a bottle of Bucky.
They also recently showed a picture of the packed tent from Electric Picnic this year compared with “about 150” in 2018.
This sell-out Dublin gig, along with a run of gigs leading up to tonight, prove Kneecap weren’t ever aiming for novelty value. MCs Mo Chara, Mógalí Bap and DJ Provaí’s satire is more Rubberbandits surrealism than Versatile cheap digs, with as Gaeilge and bilingual takes on West Belfast hood culture, sesh anarchy, republican tropes and a healthy, ahem, ‘suspicion’ of the cops.
It’s all through a classic boom-bap hip-hop lens, all jazzy breaks, sleek production and the odd rave detour. The self-proclaimed “Good Friday Agreement babies’ new single is called Fenian Cunts, so nothing is sacred. But you have to laugh.
- Kneecap play the Academy in Dublin tonight (Thursday)
Moo Kid 