.png)
Irish-Rap Trio Kneecap Make Cultural Waves, and Bring Party Energy to Australia - A Tour That Is More Than Just Music
By Olive McCagh
Everyone has been talking about the Irish rap-trio Kneecap. They’ve been making noise all over Australia, and we have been paying attention. Through a mix of Irish and English language, their innovation of the Hip Hop genre tells stories of partying, drugs and their countries colonisation.
I can’t turn on the television, radio, or my phone without seeing footage from their latest interview or last Monday’s massive performance in Melbourne’s Federation Square. Not many artists can say they’ve sold out their first Australian tour, six headline shows, two festival sets, and a packed-out Fed square show.
Australia’s capital cities have been buzzing with excitement, and last Wednesday night it was Brisbane’s turn to party with Kneecap.
I don’t know what set the mood more, my drive over The Story Bridge, which wore green, white, and orange colours representing the Irish flag, or the Guinness bar near the merch stand. Either way, I was there ready for the ride alongside plenty of Irish people, Leftists, and Hip-Hop fans – a combination only Kneecap would bring out.
The Australian tour had to be memorable to Kneecap, the exchange and education between their culture and our country’s Indigenous culture was powerful. This was shown right off the bat by their support act Miss Kaninna.
Kaninna put on a show; she commanded the room and shared her stories. She was confident, she was hot, and she had a message. Miss Kaninna is proof that there doesn’t have to be a sacrifice of playfulness, musical talent, or the feminine to successfully deliver powerful meaning. Themes of racial oppression and erasure of Indigenous culture flowed between songs about sex, weed, and conviction.
Miss Kaninna ensured the audience knew how she felt; I think that is as raw and real as a performance can be. Her speeches were harsh truths, and the room was listening. This show was about politics as much as it was about music, not just because these acts were purposefully doing it but because these were their stories, and this was the music that came out of it. They used their platforms, big or small, to make audiences pay attention to the world around them, to make them think, and to build resistance.
“When people tell you to keep politics out of music it is the most racist and the most oppressive shit I’ve ever heard. You just don’t want to hear me talk my shit. You just don’t want to hear the story of the oppressed.”
– Miss Kaninna
It was my first time seeing Miss Kaninna, and she impressed the whole venue, playing her most popular songs and debuting a brand-new single with Gospel samples and deep-cut lyrics: “This is the white way, this is the right way”. She pre-empted the track by telling us she wasn’t too sure whether she should play it. Kaninna acknowledged it would make the crowd uncomfortable, and that’s what she wanted. I think people believe that artists are unaware of how political conversations make rooms and audiences feel. But there is a purpose, and there is a reason - this audience was mostly white, reflecting the demographic of this city and country. And these songs were targeted at us.
“That is what rap is, it’s about a fuck you to the system.”
– Miss Kaninna
Miss Kaninna finished her set with her most popular track, Blak Britney, and didn’t leave the stage without praising the upcoming headliners,
“These brothers have come here, and they want to know, they want to learn, and they want to make a difference. So I want to shoutout to those men for coming here and actually doing that shit.” – Miss Kaninna
It wasn’t long until the lights turned low, and the room was itching for what was next. Kneecap tickets were scarce, and we all knew we were here for a moment, a movement.
DJ Próvaí was first on the stage, fist held high in the air with his iconic balaclava cladding his face. 3CAG from their album Fine Art, started the set. It wasn’t long after their first track ended, that the crowd’s antics began. It was almost banter between the bandmates and the audience.
The music was loud and fast, and their energy was contagious. Kneecap made sure to acknowledge the land they played on and gave Miss Kaninna the credit she deserved.
“Shoutout to the best support act we’ve ever had Miss Kaninna. Commands a stage, and she’s so confident in her own culture. We appreciate every one of you for giving her a spot. Cause that woman deserves it.”
It wasn’t long before the audience warmed up and switched on. Their track “Sick in the Head” was where I found the show began. Mo Chara repeated, “Open up the pit,” after every song, and the crowd diligently followed his instructions.
These guys were not only here for a good time and to put on a unique show; they had an agenda. I think Australia was a special tour for Kneecap, their own stories of colonisation and language loss were reflected deeply in the history of our Indigenous peoples. Australia became a place that empowered the message and felt it in even greater ways.
“I think it’s important to us, I think it’s important to other Irish people that they respect the land they're on, the culture their living in because you know all about colonisation and people trying to wade in their culture”
– Kneecap
Their resistance was met with great force in this country, and it is rare for Australia to be met with politically educated international artists that take this nation, its Indigenous culture, its artists, music industry, and its politics seriously.
Kneecap were sure to remind us that this isn’t an outdated fight; the music and movement aren’t just about the history of Imperialism. They’re about protesting the current injustices and the silencing of stories in the world.
“But you know there’s a worse occupation happening right now in Palestine. And I know I don’t need to lecture you, but at the end of the day, whatever small platform we have, it’s important that we spend a bit of time to talk about it at least.”
“Free, free Palestine”
This show felt like a demonstration, and Kneecap was at the front charging the way tonight. Yet, within all of this, they stayed humble and took it all tongue-in-cheek, rapping about drugs, sex, and parties in their iconic Irish-Urban English combination.
“We never thought as a band who fucking raps in a language that not many people speak that we would be doing a fucking sold-out tour in Australia”
– Kneecap
The current times are scary, and the media and Government can be so overwhelming. The leftists of Brisbane have been going against the grain of Queensland’s more conservative nature since its beginning. I think the further right-leaning the time, place, and setting are, the more an uprising grows, and rebels. Kneecap showcases how change comes with education, and they represent a rare side of musical politics.
“Believe me I’d love to not have to be political. I’d love to just do fucking tunes about having a crack all the time. But until shit gets sorted I’m going to be here busting bullocks”
- Kneecap
Kneecap you’re so fucking punk and you’re a breath of fresh air. Thanks for helping fuel the fire and supporting the Indigenous people of this country while you have been here. Although Irish, English, and Indigenous Australian languages were few and far between, the energy this nation has had this week, shows how the power is in our voices and what we say, not how we speak it.
The show that Kneecap and Miss Kaninna put on at The Triffid last week reignited my flame.
This is music, this is culture, and culture is inherently human.
“Open up in the middle there DJ Provei’s fucking coming in”
- Kneecap