Click here to see my original published article: https://lakelanderonline.com/2025/02/28/spring-2025-issue-1/ 

A Band Overview | The Lakelander | Spring 2025 | Issue 1

KNEECAP: A Band Overview 

By: Emily Eade

Are you trying to find a new artist who is slightly obscure and scratches your brain just right? The Irish group KNEECAP is just what you are looking for. The trio was formed in 2017 in Belfast, Ireland, by members Mo Chara, Móglaí Bap, and DJ Próvaí after they met at an Irish-speaking squat. This Irish hip-hop group would become an intoxicating sensation with a blend of hip-hop and their indigenous language, Irish. 

The hip-hop trio uses their music to promote the use of their dying language and advocate for the reunification of Ireland, disagreeing with the British rule of Northern Ireland. To try and attract younger listeners, they use the symbolism of partying, mental illness, and being young as common themes in their songs. This was their way of showing that the Irish language and culture can be part of the youth culture. 

Throughout the years, the trio would become a topic of controversy. This would start at the beginning of their career with their first single, “C.E.A.R.T.A.” This single was loosely based on an experience Móglaí Bap would have the day before an Irish Language Act march, where a friend had to spend a night at the police station after refusing to speak English. This song would be banned from radio stations in late 2017. In 2024, the trio would go to court against the UK government for withholding funds they earned for the music they created, £15 thousand to be exact. Conservative party leader, Kemi Badenoch, blocked an arts grant to the group due to their anti-British politics. The group won the case and gave the money to two organizations in Belfast, Glór na Móna, an organization that promotes Irish language activities and culture, and R-City Belfast, an organization that offers personal and social development for young people.

In 2024, the group would release a semi-autobiographical biopic about their early years. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, being the first Irish-speaking film at the festival. It was even selected to represent Ireland in the International Film Category for the Academy Awards, where it was shortlisted in the Best International Feature and Best Original Song categories. These achievements would bring the group to a positive light.

The trio would become the most controversial group to come from the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland since the Sex Pistols rose to fame in 1977. KNEECAP brings a different light to hip-hop and informs people about the dying Irish language.