Kneecap

**SPEAKER_1** (0:00)
This message comes from Capella University. That spark you feel? That's your drive for more. Capella University's FlexPath learning format lets you earn your degree at your pace without putting life on pause. Learn more at capella.edu.

**SPEAKER_2** (0:16)
Bullseye with Jesse Thorn is a production of maximumfun.org and is distributed by NPR.

**Jesse Thorn** (0:35)
It's Bullseye, I'm Jesse Thorn. Kneecap, my next guests, are an Irish hip hop group. They're based out of Belfast, the city in Northern Ireland that in the late 20th century bore the brunt of the violence and oppression during The Troubles. The three members of Kneecap are Mo Chara, Móglaí Bap and DJ Provi. Mo and Móglaí handle the mic. Provi is, as you might have guessed, behind the decks, and he's also a hype man during their shows. Their beats are intense, heavy drums, fat synths, a little bit of prodigy, a little bit of the prodigy, a little bit of peaches, maybe? Take a listen to the single from their latest album, Fenian. This is Smugglers and Scholars.
And what about the rhymes? Also very intense. Kneecap's lyrics are direct and in your face, about as political as they come. And very rarely are they delivered in English.
They're at the absolute forefront of a movement for Irish people to create and enjoy culture in the Irish language. They're also, at the heart of it, three buddies. Some of the funniest and most passionate people you will ever meet. I'm so excited to welcome them to Bullseye. Here's another track from their latest record, Anra.
Kneecap, welcome to Bullseye. It's so nice to have the three of you on the show and congratulations on your new record.

**Mo Chara** (2:52)
Thanks very much. We're glad to be here.

**Móglaí Bap** (2:53)
Thank you.

**Jesse Thorn** (2:55)
Próvaí, you are wearing a balaclava in the studio. Our radio audience can't see it.

**DJ Próvaí** (3:00)
Yeah.

**Jesse Thorn** (3:01)
How long is the longest that you've worn the balaclava in one stretch?

**DJ Próvaí** (3:07)
Well, it's probably last weekend. I had a mad weekend with BDS. BDS?
Listening to some Korean music.

**Jesse Thorn** (3:19)
K-pop.

**DJ Próvaí** (3:22)
It's probably been a few hours. And it's definitely two and a half hours.

**Jesse Thorn** (3:26)
Do you move towards performance fabrics over time? Like, originally, it's inch thick wool, and then later on, it's something wicking.

**DJ Próvaí** (3:34)
Yeah, there should be a progression into that. You know, like, kind of finding what Daft Punk used to do with their helmets. Get some kind of lining that's got a cool down system, like a refrigeration system. But no, it's just the same old one that I had from the start.

**Mo Chara** (3:49)
It stank.

**DJ Próvaí** (3:49)
It's still as warm, it's still as sweaty.

**Mo Chara** (3:51)
You can imagine how it smells after a tour.

**Jesse Thorn** (3:55)
I can only imagine.
You guys are in an Irish language radio station in Belfast right now, right? Yep.

**Mo Chara** (4:04)
Radio Fáilte.

**Móglaí Bap** (4:05)
107.1.

**Jesse Thorn** (4:06)
That was the station that your management requested we set you up in or recommended we set you up in. What's your relationship to it?

**Móglaí Bap** (4:13)
My father, my dad, he would have been involved with the foundation of the radio station, along with a lot of other people in the community. This started, that's actually about a year, Radio Fáilte just started, but it started off, I think it started as a pirate radio station originally, without a license.

**Jesse Thorn** (4:30)
Allegedly.

**Móglaí Bap** (4:31)
Allegedly. This came when the Irish language community was growing.
The radio was another extension of the community here. Also, we had a cultural center, the Cultinán, that was established. The Scourge were coming, there's more people speaking Irish. So that was kind of the connection we had here. And me and Mó Chara actually had, we had our own radio station in here.

**Mo Chara** (4:52)
Our radio show.

**Móglaí Bap** (4:52)
A radio show, sorry, our own station.

**DJ Próvaí** (4:55)
A pirate pirate.

**Móglaí Bap** (4:57)
But we had our own radio show here in Radio Fáilte, pre-Kneecap. And definitely contributed to our, to the foundation of Kneecap.
So that was a connection. My mother also worked here. And everybody, if you speak Irish, everybody has a program here in Radio Fáilte. It's the room.

**Mo Chara** (5:15)
It broke down to half an hour at least once.

**Móglaí Bap** (5:16)
Yeah. Próvaí had a radio show here as well.

**Jesse Thorn** (5:19)
Yeah.

**DJ Próvaí** (5:19)
It was called in Ravlodge, The Revolution. There was nothing really revolutionary about it, but it sounded cool as a name.