Controversial rappers Kneecap have brazenly mocked the police, Kemi Badenoch and the death of Margaret Thatcher even after one of their members was charged with a terror offence
A sold-out central London crowd on Thursday night was treated to provocative chants about the deceased former Tory prime minister while the band’s latest release yesterday took aim at the party’s current leader.
The Northern Irish group consisting of Mo Chara, DJ Provai and Moglai Bap held a last-minute gig at The 100 Club on Oxford Street ahead of a headline appearance at a London festival.
The band encouraged the crowd to shout ‘Free Palestine’ as well as sing a rendition of ‘Maggie’s in a box’ to the tune of KC and the Sunshine Band’s ‘Give It Up’.
Many attendees joined in to bellow the sickening chant whilst others filmed or waved their hands to the beat.
It was not the first time they have repeated the song about Mrs Thatcher, who died in 2013 and whose ashes were buried beside those of her husband, Sir Denis.
Last month, the US music festival Coachella saw its official livestream temporarily censored as the same raucous melody was unexpectantly filmed live.
And yesterday Kneecap released a new song, The Recap, mocking Kemi Badenoch’s attempts to block their arts funding while in government and the Conservative Party’s subsequent election loss.
The rap trio have had gigs cancelled after a member was charged with a terror offence but still held a last-minute gig at The 100 Club on Oxford Street on Thursday
In a post to social media, they said: ‘London. We’re back. See you at The 100 Club tonight – tickets on sale in one hour at 4pm’
Kneecap singer Naoise Ó Cairealláin (stage name Móglaí Bap) onstage at the 100 Club in London on Thursday
J. J. Ó Dochartaigh AKA DJ Próvaí in his trademark balaclava that he originally wore to protect his identity as a teacher
The song opens with a sample of a news report about the counter terrorism police investigation into the group.
Mo Chara, whose real name is Liam O’Hanna, faces a charge for the alleged display of a flag in support of a proscribed terrorist organisation Hezbollah at a gig at the O2 Forum in Kentish Town, north London, in November last year.
Speaking to the crowd on Thursday, he said: ‘There’s a lot of police inside this venue tonight, they’re making a lot of money for doing f*** all.
‘You should all be thanking me for overtime, listen I’m feeding your kids, jobs for the boys.
‘We’re from the north of Ireland, we’re very used to the British establishment bringing people from the north, trying to get them into their English jails, for stuff they didn’t do.
‘They’ve done it before and they’re trying to do it again.’
With the band set to take on Wide Awake festival at Brockwell Park last night, Shadow Secretary of State for Justice Robert Jenrick said: ‘In November last year Kneecap glorified Hamas and Hezbollah at their London gig.
‘That should disqualify them from being booked by festivals and venues.
Irish rap trio Kneecap took a swipe at Tory leader Kemi Badenoch in a new track released hours before they performed in the capital last night. Pictured: O hAnnaidh, who performs under the stage name Mo Chara, in a promo picture for the track with his mouth taped up
The rap group, from Belfast, were catapulted to success on the back of a film that told a fictionalised version of their story
Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh has been charged over the alleged display of a flag in support of Hezbollah at a gig at the O2 Forum in Kentish Town, north London, in November last year
O hAnnaidh posed for a photograph at the rear entrance of the 100 Club last night
The rap trio have been involved in a series of high-profile controversies in response to the war in Gaza, which has seen them banned from concerts and calls for their Glastonbury set this summer to be axed
‘If a band were to glorify a proscribed far-right group, action would have been taken.
‘The organisers should hang their heads in shame.’
Former Tory party leader Iain Duncan Smith added: ‘They’re after a reaction but the truth is they’re just an obscure group.
‘They’re just self-publicists attempting to shock people so that they all go how terrible and other people think they might go listen to them.
‘They will sink back into obscurity when people get tired of their attempts to constantly raise their profile.
‘They try to be as shocking as possible… Nobody can really remember a single thing they’ve played and so they want to be known for something else.’
