Kneecap bid to turn controversy into money: Belfast rappers push merchandise based on terror police probe as key festival confirms headline slot
Scandal-hit rappers Kneecap are pushing merchandise based on the controversy that’s engulfed them in recent weeks, as the band has been confirmed as headlining a key concert in London.
The Belfast trio are under investigation by the Metropolitan Police’s anti-terrorism squad, after a video clip emerged showing one of the band shouting ‘up Hamas, up Hezbollah’ while draped in a Hezbollah flag during a London gig six months ago.
Both Hamas and Hezbollah are proscribed organisations in the UK, making expressing support for them illegal.
A second clip from around 18 months ago, also being probed, appeared to show one of them telling a concert crowd “the only good Tory is a dead Tory, kill your local MP”.
Kneecap have since lost major dates in England and Germany. Amid the controversy, they issued an apology to the families of murdered MPs Jo Cox and Sir David Amess as well as stating they have never supported Hamas or Hezbollah.
Now the group have announced they're selling a T-shirt referencing the police probe, which mocks up a poster featuring the band and the slogan: “Wanted: Kneecap – by order of British Metropolitan Police Counter-Terror Unit”.
The shirt also features a fake information tip-off phone number containing an 1800 prefix, the code for free-of-charge lines in the Irish Republic, and a reference to a united Ireland.
Fans will be able to get hold of the controversy-based T-shirt for £26 a pop, plus delivery charges, in early June.
The merchandise announcement comes as a London festival confirmed Kneecap will be headlining next week.
Announcing their set at the Brixton event would go ahead, the Wide Awake Festival stated: “After positive discussions with key stakeholders, [we] can confirm that, as planned, Kneecap will be performing at this year’s festival on May 23 at Brockwell Park.
“Wide Awake Festival has a proud history of supporting the alternative music scene and we look forward to staging another unforgettable event showcasing the very best emerging and established talent.”
The Wide Awake performance will be the band’s first UK gig since the police probe was launched.
Made up of 27-year-old Liam Og O Hannaidh, Naoise O Caireallain (30) and 36-year-old JJ O Dochartaigh, the band hit headlines after the set at California’s Coachella Festival last month saw them emblazon large screens with obscenity-ridden slogans attacking Israel over the war in Gaza.
The band lost their American booking agent, while senior US industry figures attacked both the band and Coachella for staging them.
As calls for Kneecap to be axed from the UK’s Glastonbury Festival and a high-profile support slot at Belfast’s Vital Festival grew, musicians including CMAT, Massive Attack, Paul Weller and Primal Scream defended the group.
Several acts signed a statement claiming there is a “clear, concerted attempt to censor and ultimately deplatform” Kneecap and claiming that politicians are “strategically concocting moral outrage over the stage utterings of a young punk band” while ignoring a “genocide” in Gaza.
Formed in 2017, the rappers are known for their provocative lyrics and merchandise as well as their championing of the Irish language, their best known tracks include Get Your Brits Out, H.O.O.D. and 3CAG. Last year they starred in a British-funded movie giving a fictionalised and broadly comedic account of the band’s lives and formation.
The group refuses to comment to the News Letter, with their manager – Daniel Lambert, a former Irish diplomat turned football executive – telling this newspaper: “There’s journalism and then there’s the News Letter Belfast. Nobody from Kneecap will be providing comment to your ‘paper’, ever. Free Palestine.”
Last May, however, the group angered many left-wing fans when, despite their frequent comments backing Palestine, they broke a boycott to play an English music festival sponsored by a company with financial ties to arms manufacturers suppling Israel’s military.
Half of the acts booked for the Great Escape pulled out but Kneecap refused, leading to accusations of hypocrisy; the rappers said they had to play as they’re a “working band” while dismissing their critics as middle-class. The incident happened a couple of months before the release of their movie.