Kneecap Is Everything The Great Hip Hop Hoax Wasn't

And Kneecap takes us through a bit of a wild ride with unlikely duo becomes hip hop stars and in the process, work to save the native language of Irish up in the Northern

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Ireland region.

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As a brave film with a lot of

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character and action reminding me a little bit of Dope when it's kind of like kind of

goes off the rails and into these tangents with drugs and chaos.

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but what are you guys overall thoughts about kneecap?

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Yeah.

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This movie was it was interesting.

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I don't really know what to tell I don't know what to make of it.

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I I was watching like wow, what am I watching?

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But it was different.

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I found some parts of it extremely funny, but um yeah.

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I I liked it wasn't your t typical just, you know, hip hop film just about them coming up

because there's a message behind it.

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And I think there was a lot of like self deprecating humor in here.

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And they're kind of making fun of themselves and the culture a bit.

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Yeah, I it was enjoyable.

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Uh it got really good reviews out there.

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I didn't know it was to that level.

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But um yeah, some some five stars review really high rated on on Rotten Tomatoes, et

cetera.

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I think it's really, it was really fun.

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Part biopic, part comedy, part drama.

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It really worked.

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You really got a sense for what their life was like.

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I did hear, read, seen interviews where a lot of it was sort of composited together and it's not like completely accurate, but it's mostly accurate.

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I thought it was

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The villains were like the the radical

Republicans against drugs R R A D.

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It was funny that that was kinda like a Keystone Cops type thing.

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They were chasing them around.

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It's like how do you pronounce that?

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Some of the scenes in this movie really had me crack in up like that one scene in the

beginning when they were young and they were sitting outside and the g the cops were

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chasing the drug dealer and threw the th the weed in their lap and they were like, what do

we do with this?

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They got the whole congregation around and say, then you know, they got it said the next

week the congregation doubled.

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And I d DJ Provai was one of my favorite characters and he wore like the ski mask uh

because he didn't want to be associated with kneecap.

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I mean, they developed a bad reputation.

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They were giving out drugs at their concerts and the lyrics were inappropriate.

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But ironically, I guess i this is how a lot of the younger generation was learning the language or keeping the language going.

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So and that was a subplot, and though DJ Provai's girlfriend was kind of leading that

movement to you know, keep the language going.

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And uh it was a lot of awkward moments between those two.

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But I think these guys had a lot a lot of talent.

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I mean, I I I like the the lyrics and the beats.

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And the beats it's funny 'cause they the 808 machine at at school is what

really y you know, mate made their songs come to live.

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I mean that was after the studio burnt down and they're like, What are we gonna do now?

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And they break into the school.

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And I thought that was a a really one of my favorite scenes too is when DJ Provai they

were interrogating him at the school and and he's sitting there and like, Do you admit to

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And I thought that was a a really one of my favorite scenes too is when DJ Provai they

were interrogating him at the school and and he's sitting there and like, Do you admit to

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breaking into the school?

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And he's like, Admitted you know, doing the drugs, admitted.

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And like mooning the mooning the crowd with the anti British sentiment.

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He's like, Admitted And he was fired.

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Yeah, fired on the spot there.

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I mean I thought the subplot of, you know, fighting for the Irish language for Northern

Ireland was was really good.

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I think it carried a lot of the weight of the movie on top of the ridiculous, you know,

drug binges and and and sex scenes and all this stuff.

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And it was like it kinda like tied it all together, especially with DJ Provai and his

girlfriend and

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Yeah, that part provided a good emotional core for the rest of the chaos, like you said.

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And a lot of hip hop is this sort of principled expression.

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And that was cool to see, despite all the other chaos around it, the drug use and the

hijinks.

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Some of it was up fun too, but it was good to have this kind of story and have hip hop be

a vehicle for it.

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it.

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Yeah, it it's just kinda like you say, it just kinda ties into, you know, just the roots

of hip hop in general, you know.

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It's always been a voice of the people, you know, going against the grain, um, giving a

voice to the quote unquote the underdogs, the undervalued, you know, in this case, you

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know, they like you say they were pushing the the language forward, which was which was

actually kinda cool.

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That was cool to see.

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Yeah, that's a good point.

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I think they mentioned that.

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It's like this gives you the voice and yeah, right.

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It just takes the lead from the the hip hop as we saw it rise in the US, etc.

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Yeah, one quote that I really liked when was DJ Provai had to tell his girlfriend that he

was fired and she was like, you know, you gonna stick around with these guys and kneecap

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and uh he kind of intimated that he would.

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I loved her quote when she said, No one is anything until they are.

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You are like it's kinda like you found your calling, go for it, you know, follow your

follow that path.

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I like that one a lot.

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Towards the end of the film.

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I liked DJ Provai I can relate to him because he was stuck between two worlds.

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And we all have to code switch between some of our lives.

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But him being an awesome DJ and producer at night and trying to be a normal school teacher

during the day.

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And trying not to get fired from both.

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Yeah, that was fun.

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Yeah, I I enjoyed his character also.

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Absolutely.

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I was just a fan of the ski mask.

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Mm-hmm.

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I've seen interviews that it's still the same ski mask after all these years.

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It's not like a backup or anything.

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Like, it's the same one from the beginning.

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man, that's gotta be brewing some funk up in there.

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But I guess it still works.

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That whole Great Hip Hop Hoax that we did few episodes back.

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I compare this, like like those guys, like I said, those were like punchable characters.

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I'm like there's these guys were like a total one eighty.

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Like these these were true, real, authentic guys telling their story.

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Obviously they fabricated a few things for the film, but like like you said, Dyno Wright,

this was their upbringing, this the the political

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context of it.

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And these guys were likable.

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Like these are guys you'd want to hang out with.

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Obviously they overindulged quite a bit, but they seemed to be like a good likeable guys.

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You know, a little bit of a family element.

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They were like brothers and with DJ Provai, It all worked really well.

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So Boogie for kneecap, would you bring this funky flick back or leave it in the vault?

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I'm so glad that I was wrong about this one because I was like, Why am I watching this?

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But I I I got through it and I'm like, you know, hey bring this funky flick back.

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Ha ha ha ha.

103

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for kneecap, would you bring this funky flick back or leave it in the vault?

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Definitely bring this funky flick back.

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Yeah, I'll make it unanimous.

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I will bring this funky flick back for all the reasons we mentioned.

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Super creative.

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And these guys do have skill.

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Thank you for tuning into the Hip Hop Movie Club, the show for serious hip hop fans who

want to deepen their cultural knowledge.

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I'm Dyno Wright, filmmaker, designer, longtime hip hop fan, and I recommend Kneecap's

interview on Bullseye with Jesse Thorne.

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I'll put a link in the description.

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Nice.

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I'm JB, eighties and nineties, nostalgia junkie, longtime hip hop fan.

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And I was always a fan of House of Pain's fine malt lyrics logo with the shamrock.

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And we got to see House of Pain perform at Rider University Spring Fling.

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Yeah.

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Yep, that was the last one.

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Heck of a show.

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And I'm Boogie, a DJ Longtime Hip Hop fan.

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I'm actually DJing a gig this Saturday on the fourth of July.

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I get to spin some go go music.

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Never spun go go.

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Ever.

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And I get to spin go go.

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All right.

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There you go.

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And remember, don't hate extricate

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Get it out.

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Get it out.

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Sure.

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Nice.

Episode 164

8th Jul 2026

Kneecap Is Everything The Great Hip Hop Hoax Wasn't

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