Kneecap have officially shared their new single ‘The Recap’ ahead of their controversial slot at Glastonbury.
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The single was announced by the Belfast hip-hop trio on their WhatsApp group last month, and was only available as a ‘bootleg version’ on their Soundcloud page up until now.
Ahead of its release, the band’s Moglai Bap took to Instagram Stories to say that the track was “for Kemi Badenoch” – the current leader of the Conservative Party who shared footage that led to Mo Chara being charged with a terror offence earlier this year. She has also accused the group of “openly glorifying evil terror groups” and made efforts to block them from “getting taxpayer funding”, before the band received the money when it was found that the government had acted illegally.
Now the trio have officially released the explosive single on streaming services – capturing a mix of heavy drum & bass and blistering post-punk as they join forces with bassline artist Mozey, and criticise Badenoch in the lyrics.
“Grab a handful and we’ll stroll to the bank / Get me Kemi’s money and give her my thanks,” they rap, making a nod to the blocked funding (translated from Irish by The National).
“Kemi ya wally/ The writings on the walls/ You like to think that you’re fooling everybody/ But you’re not,” they add in the second verse. “Just like the iron lady/ Your career is gonna rot/ You’re just shit/ Not in control.”
The references to Badenoch in the song come following Kneecap claiming the Tory leader had “acted unlawfully” in her attempt to block their funding last November. Before then, they accused the government of trying to “silence” them.
While the song was only available on Soundcloud over the past month, the group have been playing it at recent live shows. It got its debut at a tiny, last-minute gig at the 100 Club in London on May 22 – where Mo Chara also appeared with tape over his mouth in a nod to the alleged terror offence.
The charges stem from the group allegedly displaying a flag in support of proscribed terrorist organisation Hezbollah at their O2 Kentish Town Forum gig last year. The band have denied supporting either Hamas or Hezbollah, and consistently argued that the footage had been taken out of context.
Appearing in court last Wednesday (June 18), Chara – real name Og O hAnnaidh – confirmed his name, date of birth and address before being released on unconditional bail. His next hearing will be held on August 20.
Outside the Magistrates Court in London, Paul Weller was spotted amongst the many protesters in support of Kneecap. Some held signs reading ‘Free Palestine, ‘Free Mo Chara’, and ‘Defend Kneecap: Drop The Charges’.
The official release of ‘The Recap’ comes as the Irish group will be performing at Glastonbury 2025 this weekend – despite efforts made by politicians to have them dropped from the line-up. Their set will go ahead as planned, and be held on the West Holts stage at 4pm on Saturday (June 28), with the BBC saying they will be covering their performance in compliance with broadcast guidelines.
Among those speaking out against their Glasto set is UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who was recently asked by The Sun if they should remain on the 2025 bill. “No, I don’t, and I think we need to come down really clearly on this,” he responded, adding that he didn’t think their inclusion was “appropriate”.
Kneecap posted a response to the PM’s comments this weekend, writing: “You know what’s ‘not appropriate’ Keir?! Arming a fucking genocide…”
After the Worthy Farm appearance, the trio will support Fontaines D.C. at their huge Finsbury Park show next month, and then play their biggest England show to date at London’s Wembley Arena in September.
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