C.E.A.R.T.A.

Kneecap is a hip-hop trio from West Belfast in the North of Ireland. The group was founded after Móglaí Bop (Naoise Ó Cairealláin) & a friend graffitied a bus stop with the word "cearta" -- Irish for "rights." The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) arrested the friend, who only spoke the Irish language to the officers. In Belfast, a city still ruled by the British, this could be seen as nothing other than an act of resistance.

The group decided to produce the song "for the craic", and thus, began their journey to becoming international stars with tours in North America, Europe, and ANZ.

Below, I will do my best to translate & analyze the song. As it's written in verse, I'll take some liberties in translation to maintain the rhymes while trying to stay true to the original text.

The song opens with a reference to the graffiti incident:

"Fuck me, didn't see the cops roll up on me,

They're not getting my Molly because there's a party tonight & the pigs aren't invited."

The verse continues about partying, trading speakers halfway through. There is a distinct change at the end of the verse though:

"But if we're caught tonight we'll suffer in the blink of an eye,

the pigs will throw us in jail, we'll get fucked from behind."

Then, the hook:

"R-I-G-H-T-S / I don't give a fuck about the cops.

Pipe in my hand, I'm too fast / Ain't no way the pigs gon' catch my ass."

The song doesn't really read as one of political resistance so much as a song about hooligans dealing drugs - until the line,

"Brisim achan riail, seachas focan caol le caol"

which basically means:

"I break every rule except for the ones within the Irish language."

It's here where the politicization of the language begins to reveal itself. This project is presented as a reverse timeline, so we haven't gotten into the history of the island too deeply yet. However, much of the cultural tie to the language was crushed by English colonization. Today, only about 2% speaks the language on a daily basis outside of the education system. Only 1 in 10 says they speak it very well.

Naoise's father was an Irish language activist, one of the most prominent voices promoting the Irish language in Belfast. Underlying each and every Kneecap song is that heritage of resistance of colonization. It's the reason the group raps in Irish at all.