“Kneecap are not the story,” the statement reads. “Genocide is the story”.
Today (30 April), Massive Attack have released a statement supporting Irish rap trio Kneecap, who have been under scrutiny for pro-Palestine statements made at Coachella Festival as well as resurfaced comments made about Tory MPs.
During their set at the first Coachella weekend, Kneecap member Mo Chara reportedly told the audience: “If anybody was wondering, Margaret Thatcher’s still dead” before leading the crowd in a sing-along of Maggie’s in a box – which was cut from the festival’s live-stream.
“Not the only thing that was cut – our messaging on the US-backed genocide in Gaza somehow never appeared on screens either,” the band wrote on X. “Back next Friday Coachella and it’ll be sorted.”
When Kneecap returned to the Coachella stage the following week, they projected a series of pro-Palestine statements on-screen including: “Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people.”
Following the festival, video footage emerged from a November 2023 Kneecap gig in which one member of the band appeared to say: “The only good Tory is a dead Tory. Kill your local MP.”
Kneecap are now currently under investigation by the counter-terrorism police, as well as facing cancelled gigs and calls from MPs to be removed from the Glastonbury line-up this year. They are still currently scheduled to perform.
Kneecap have denied supporting any terrorist organisations, saying that their comments were taken out of context as part of a smear campaign against their pro-Palestinian stance.
“We also reject any suggestion that we would seek to incite violence against any MP or individual. Ever. An extract of footage, deliberately taken out of all context, is now being exploited and weaponised, as if it were a call to action,” they have since responded in another statement on X.
“Kneecap are not the story”, Massive Attack’s statement reads.
“If senior politicians can find neither the time, nor the words to condemn, say, the murder of fifteen voluntary aid workers in Gaza, or the illegal starvation of a civilian population as a method of warfare, or the killing of thousands & thousands of children in the same territory, by a state in possession of the highest precision weapons on earth; how much notice should a music festival take of their moral advice on booking performing acts?”
Fontaines D.C. Pulp, IDLES and dozens of others have also signed a letter from Heavenly Recordings advocating for artists’ rights to freedom of expression. “As artists, we feel the need to register our opposition to any political repression of artistic freedom,” it states.
Read Massive Attack’s full statement below.
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