Kneecap

Their lyrics are powerful but funny. Provocative but absurd. Rapped in a mixture of English and Irish in a style quite unlike anything you’ve heard in a while. The Guardian calls them “one of the most controversial bands […] since the Sex Pistols.” The LA Times compares them to Eminem in his early years. The young trio’s explosive hip-hop message and electrifying live shows have earned them a dedicated following on both sides of the pond. “They pulled up to the Sundance festival – where the movie Kneecap won the Audience Award: NEXT – flares lit, riding on top of a vehicle made to like a police truck. When they came out with their second album a year later, they caught the attention of audiences around the world. For many of them, the trio’s hard-hitting Irish rap came as a completely new experience. Their OFF show is going to go down in festival history,” says Artur Rojek, artistic director of the OFF Festival. Kneecap is a Belfast-based trio with two LPs to their name. The latest, 2024’s Fine Art, was engineered by the acclaimed producer Toddla T and features members of Fontaines D.C. (also performing at OFF in 2025). The album has garnered rave reviews in the music media on both sides of the Atlantic — as has the semi-fictionalised biopic about the Belfast rappers, titled Kneecap, which won an audience award at Sundance and is Ireland’s Academy Award entry. Directed by Rich Peppiatt, the film features the trio alongside Michael Fassbender, whose character says, “Every word of Irish spoken is a bullet fired for Irish freedom.” Filmed in the vein of Fight Club, Trainspotting, and Guy Ritchie productions, Kneecap is described by its Polish distributor, Gutek Film, as “a relentless source of words and images, a euphoric comedy about a couple of guys who OD’ed on their native language, high on patriotism and drugs.” Like the band’s music, the picture blends Irish rap with sheer punk energy, humor, and youthful rebellion. Kneecap comes out in theaters in Poland on November 29, distributed by Gutek Film.