Nov. 29, 2024, Béal Feirste, Occupied Ulster
Rap trio Kneecap had officially won their discrimination lawsuit against the British government. The trio were initially approved to be one of 67 artists who were approved to receive funding from a pool of 1.6 million pounds, but after being approved, then-UK Business and Trade Secretary, now current head of the Conservative Party, Kemi Badenoch intervened, arguing that London didn’t want to give taxpayer money to “people that oppose the United Kingdom itself.” In a statement on their Instagram, Kneecap stated that “[Westminster] broke their own laws in trying to silence Kneecap. The reason for this was they didn’t like our art, in particular our beautiful 2019 tour poster of Boris Johnson on a rocket. They didn’t like our views, in particular our opposition to the ‘United Kingdom’ itself and our belief in a United Ireland which is our right to do. They didn’t like the fact that we are totally opposed to all they represent, embodied right now by their arming of genocide in Gaza,” as well as referring to the amount they were awarded as taking it from the King’s stash. The trio decided to give this sum, amounting to 14,250 pounds — the same as their initial grant — to two youth clubs, Glór Na Móna in Ballymurphy and R-City Belfast on the Shankill Road. Each youth club is in a part of the community with differing views on a united Ireland; with Ballymurphy being predominantly Republican, or being for a United Ireland, and Shankill Road being predominantly Loyalist, or against a United Ireland.
But who is this trio, and why would Westminster want to silence their voices? The trio of Mo Chara (the stage name of Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh), Móglaí Bap (the stage name of Naoise Ó Caireallain) and DJ Próvaí (the stage name of J.J. Ó Dochartaigh), are an Irish hip hop trio from the city of Béal Feirste — better known by the colonial name of Belfast — in the occupied territory of Ulster. The trio perform in both Irish and English, and their lyrics often contain themes of Irish Republicanism. Their name comes from the act of “kneecapping,” which was a punishment carried out by paramilitary groups during the Troubles, where victims were shot in the kneecaps. The group formed as a way to bring Irish into the modern age, as according to Móglaí Bap, “there wasn’t much craic [Irish slang for a good time or fun] in the Irish language in the urban setting. There wasn’t much music in the Irish language — contemporary music. So we started a festival in Belfast.”
Their debut song, “C.E.A.R.T.A,” was conceived from a real event in Móglaí Bap’s life. On the eve of an Irish Language Act march, he and a friend spray painted “cearta,” the Irish word for rights, on a bus stop. His friend was arrested, and refused to speak English to the police, and had to spend the night in jail while a translator was brought in. They initially planned to just release the song just for the craic, but the song struck a chord with the public, and they decided to continue making music as a group.
The group’s Republicanist themes have gotten the trio in trouble before, as well as their lyrics containing references to drugs. “C.E.A.R.T.A” was actually banned from radio for containing profanity and drug references, but a petition which received over 700 signatures reversed that ruling. That being said, this ban came after multiple politicians spread awareness about the song and praised it without actually taking a listen to the lyrics themselves. They also got in some hot water after chanting “Brits out” at a gig of theirs, which happened quite literally 24 hours after the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge appeared at the same venue. They’ve also had to repurpose parts of the language to bring Irish into the modern age, particularly drug related. An example of this is the way they repurposed the word dúidín, which originally was a specific kind of tobacco pipe, to mean a joint.
The group has caught the ire of people all across the political spectrum, but they are looking to irritate more. Mo Chara said that this has always been their goal, as “the higher the person speaking out against you is, the better the PR is for you. So any time one of the political parties or whatever had to condemn us or when we’d get banned from somewhere, it was like a golden PR coin. If you’re a group and you’re not ruffling feathers, you’re doing something wrong.”
The trio are very overtly Republican. However, they see themselves as being advocates for both Republicans and Loyalists. As Mo Chara said to the Big Issue, “Shared problems don’t stop because of a peace wall. It doesn’t stop the same government neglect in these communities. Whenever you’re neglected by the state that obviously breeds f****** mental health issues and poverty. That’s why we always say we like the olive branch. Like, we’re stronger together… and all that s***.”
The story of the band, who are part of an era known as the “Ceasefire Babies” — those born after the Good Friday Agreement, which was ratified in 1998 that officially put an end to the Troubles, — was serialized in a semi-fictional version of their history, in a film of the same name. Some details were altered, but much like reality, the stranger parts tended to be unaltered reality. It is true that DJ Próvaí was a teacher before becoming the trídhathach-colored balaclava-wearing member of the trio.
Mo Chara opens the film with the line, “They call our generation the ceasefire babies, as if our only defining feature was that we were not the s*** that came before us.” This line sets the tone for the film, which starred Michael Fassbender alongside the trio. The film earned rave reviews at the Sundance Film Festival, was picked up by Netflix, and was submitted as the Irish nominee for Best International Feature at the Oscars, and the film was one of fifteen films that made the final shortlist for the award. The film also ended up winning the award for the Best British Independent Film at the British Independent Film Awards (BIFAS). In a speech made after winning the award, director Rich Peppiatt said, “I have to mention there is an irony in the best British film being Irish,” with Móglaí Bap also stating that, “We never expected anyone to be interested in this story of the Irish language in Belfast. We soon realised it wasn’t just about the Irish language, it was about indigenous and native cultures all around the world.”
Returning back to the lawsuit introduced at the beginning of the article, Kneecap stated that their goals were not for monetary gain, but rather, for the equity of Irish culture. In a statement that DJ Próvaí made following their victory, they said that “[suing] was never about the £14,250, it could have been 50p. The motivation was equity. This was an attack on artistic culture, an attack on the Good Friday Agreement itself, and an attack on Kneecap and on our way of expressing itself.” Kneecap’s lawyer, Darragh Mackin, stated that their victory was one for both arts and culture, as well as the foundation of the Good Friday Agreement.
In “C.E.A.R.T.A,” Mo Chara raps, “Níl tú ag focan éisteacht liom níl seo ina focan jóc,” which translates to “you’re not fucking listening to me, this isn’t a fucking joke.” This line sums up this whole legal debacle. Kneecap is simply exercising their right of free speech, and advocating for 26+6=1, while also writing their names into the annals of the Irish language revitalization efforts. The fight that they have been fighting even before they became Kneecap is something that still is being fought. Linguistic colonialism is something that is present all across the world, and music has been used to combat this, from Renata Flores and L E N I N creating contemporary music in Quechua, to artists like Wade Fernandez and Jeremy Dutcher making music in Menominee and Wolastoqey respectively, and so many more in between, music provides a way to encourage younger generations to find a reason to learn these languages.
Kneecap is forging a new path for the Irish language in contemporary Ireland and Ulster. Even if you may not understand what the trio say, listen to them, and let the craic take over.