Irish language hip-hop trio to make American late-night television debut

Kneecap, the Irish language hip-hop group from Belfast, is set to have their US late-night television debut on “The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon” on Friday, March 8.

“All American heads!” Kneecap - consisting of Móglaí Bap, Mo Chara, and DJ Próvaí - said in a post on X today, Friday, March 1.

“Next Friday we’re on the @FallonTonight with the man himself @jimmyfallon. 

“Course we are!”

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Kneecap’s debut on American late-night television - which comes just ahead of their North American tour - is the latest stepping stone in the Belfast-based trio's journey to fame.

In January, the group's semi-autobiographical film "Kneecap" had the dual distinction of being the first Irish language film to be selected for Sundance, as well as the first non-US film to ever be selected for the festival’s NEXT section.

The film enjoyed rave reviews at the prestigious film festival, secured a distribution deal with Sony Picture Classics, and even won an Audience Award.

No strangers to controversy, Kneecap staged a stunt worthy of the hype surrounding the occasion of the film's premiere, arriving at the Sundance Film Festival's red carpet in a fully kitted-out Northern Irish PSNI Land Rover, complete with the band’s name spray-painted across the vehicle.

Last week, Kneecap made headlines for their appearance on "The Late Late Show," where they donned pro-Palestinian badges and tops after performing their new single "Better Way to Live."

In a statement released to The Journal, an RTÉ spokesperson said that Kneecap’s managers had stated that the performers intended to wear badges showing support for Palestine, but that the show’s producers had told them that in this case, the performance would have to be canceled. 

They said that the band agreed not to wear the badges for their live performance. 

“However, during the live performance and the subsequent interview, the band chose not to comply with that agreement. They put badges on and revealed that one band member was wearing a Palestinian football jersey,” the RTÉ spokesperson said.

During the interview, host Patrick Kielty said: "You've done a bit of a costume change here. Now, I have to say, I'm obliged to say this, that our thoughts are with everybody in that conflict. Some horrific stuff is happening there. I’m also obliged to say that in politics, there’s another side and some people might not agree with what you’ve done."

Móglaí Bap responded: "100%, but that's why we're here and we use our platform to highlight the genocide that's happening in Palestine at the moment.

"30,000 Palestinians have been murdered by American weapons and mostly, two-thirds of them, women and children.

"So I think we just have to use this platform as an opportunity to appeal to Irish people to attend rallies and protests and to support the BDS movement, to show solidarity to Palestine and hopefully, one day, that Palestine will be free."