Kneecap lose BBC 'Sound Of 2025' award - controversial Irish language rappers fail to place in top five as star Chappell Roan scoops prize

The west Belfast group didn’t even make the top five, meaning they’re unranked in the ‘Sound Of 2025’ award.

Acclaimed American popstar Chappell Roan scooped the top prize.

The annual gong is given to an act the BBC thinks will have the greatest commercial success of the upcoming year.

It results in the victors going into extremely heavy rotation on the broadcaster’s radio stations, as well as frequent appearances on TV and digital platforms.

A win would have been an important stepping stone to Kneecap breaking into mainstream audiences and big payday tours in Britain.

The Irish language rappers, who dabble in pseudo-paramilitary iconography and have been accused of glorifying republican violence, are already enormously popular across the island of Ireland, but so far high-level success has eluded them in England.

Instead the act wound up as also-rans in the award, which was voted for by a host of media executives, music journalists and big name performers including Elton John, Dua Lipa and Sam Smith.

The BBC were criticised for nominating Kneecap, with eminent Troubles historian Liam Kennedy – who believes the band’s name and lyrics trivialise the continuing impact of republican violence on victims – telling the News Letter the band has “had a very soft ride from rather soft-minded critics”.

This might not be the end of awards season for the act, however, as a movie made starring them has been long-listed for the Academy Awards.

Final Oscar nominees were to be revealed next Friday (17th) but the announcement has been put back due to wildfires ravaging Los Angeles.

The act refuse to speak to the News Letter - the group’s manager, a former Irish diplomat turned football executive, stating: “Nobody from Kneecap will be providing comment to your ‘paper’, ever. Free Palestine.”

However Kneecap angered many left-wing fans last year when, despite making 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 yet Kneecap performed, leading to accusations of hypocrisy, while the rappers said they had to play as they’re a “working band” and dismissed their critics as middle-class.