This programme contains strong language from the start.
Hip-hop from Northern Ireland has gone from grassroots to global.
# Low-life scum, that's what they say about me. #
From underground gigs to international stages,
acts like Kneecap, rapping in Irish and unapologetically political,
have turned local rebellion into worldwide noise.
The Belfast rap group Kneecap.
Kneecap. Kneecap. Kneecap.
Kneecap. Kneecap. Kneecap. Kneecap.
Nobody really gives a fuck what politicians say anyway, really.
Like, let's be honest. We're all adults here.
How did this unlikely sound take root here?
We're a country that loves to fight back
when they don't like what we're doing.
And that's what the music's all about, that type of defence.
Who built the foundations?
I loved to write and it was about expressing myself
and getting it all out.
# Cos I was born in Belfast
# Hear the shotgun shell blast
# Bang bang. #
And who will carry it forward?
A hip-hop artist from Belfast has been nominated for a Grammy
alongside the likes of Beyonce and The Weeknd.
Jordan Adetunji is probably the most
exciting urban music artist to ever come out of Ireland.
Born in the shadow of conflict,
decades in the making,
this is the sound no-one saw coming.
RAP MUSIC PLAYS
This is Northern Irish hip-hop...
It's been a mad old ride.
..its roots, its rise...
..its reckoning.
That's more like it.
In the 1970s, hip-hop was born in the rubble of New York's Bronx...
..a raw, rebellious soundtrack
to a city that had forgotten its youth.
Beats, break dance and bars became tools of survival, protest and pride.
Across the Atlantic,
Belfast kids were screaming back at a broken system too.
# Who, who, who are you... #
Punk was their weapon.
# Who, who, who are you... #
No frills, no future.
Just fury.
# Well, who are you trying to kid? #
Two scenes, two cities, same energy.
Youth taking the mic...
# Paramilitary guard... #
# Broken glass everywhere
# People pissin' on the stairs
# You know, they just don't care. #
..flipping the script...
I come to take control.
..spitting truth to power.
# Don't believe the hype. #
The '80s saw the hip-hop movement go mainstream in the US.
# Salt-N-Pepa's here. #
# It's just me, myself and I. #
And by the '90s, the noise had travelled.
MTV Europe hit the airwaves in '97,
and suddenly Northern Irish kids had a front-row seat
to the revolution that started in the South Bronx.
# She told me to... #
Hip-hop crossed the Atlantic not just as music,
but as a mindset, one that echoed their own.
Graffiti on peace walls, freestyles in youth clubs.
Hip-hop found a new home
because both scenes were born from the same fire.
Disaffected youth finding a voice.
# It's all good, I'm all good
# I can't complain. #
My parents were music lovers,
and I grew up listening to absolutely everything
from bebop jazz,
new wave, punk, reggae,
you know, Celine Dion,
do you know what I mean? Everything.
# Jump with thunderous 360-degree-type dunks... #
I remember absolutely loving the movie Space Jam.
My parents bought me the soundtrack on CD,
and my absolute favourite track off that album
was a track called Hit 'Em High.
Greetings, Earthlings.
We have now taken over your radio.
It's got Coolio, LL Cool J, B-Real,
Method Man, Busta Rhymes as well,
and just the beat on that just was knocking.
# I'm gonna mingle in your face and take the lid off
# Just use your head and forfeit the game
# You and your team just need to back off... #
I'd never heard anything quite like that before.
The chorus was just a chant and the bars were just crazy.
# Hit 'em high, hit 'em high, hit 'em high... #
That definitely set something off in my brain,
do you know what I mean, that, you know,
I knew that I loved hip-hop at that age.
It was like a light-switch moment in my head.
That was me sold, you know?
By the 2000s, it wasn't just about watching the videos.
It was about making your own.
At first, Northern Irish artists felt they had to imitate.
The accents...
..the style, the swagger.
There was no road map,
no clue that this culture could speak their truths too.
A lot of people growing up in Ireland,
whether it's, like, north or south or whatever,
like, they try to emanate what they hear
from hip-hop in America.
I think it's so easy to come up on stage
and talk about how you're the man, you're the biggest thing out,
you're the macho dude with the fucking, you know, whatever you are.
I never really thought anything of
Irish hip-hop in general.
I always kind of thought, no,
it's an American thing.
I didn't really think it would be something that
you could even really make a mark on
because it's just an American thing, like, you know what I mean?
But that changed.
# Don't need a rocket, they rock a party
# Smooth like a criminal wrath, rough but arty. #
Hip-hop in Northern Ireland started to grow legs of its own.
Spitting in local accents,
naming local streets, tackling local truths.
The beat was global, but the bars were home-grown.
# I had a little run-in with the boys
# They were doing a worse job than a blind barber
# Coming for a payment
# At the fucking front door. #
From the north coast, Derry and Belfast,
new voices emerged -
raw, honest, political.
# No immigrant has ever put a gun to my head
# It was you who filled my childhood with fear... #
It wasn't about copying the Bronx.
It was about channelling that same spirit,
DIY, defiant and done in your own voice.
# I was born in Coleraine on the banks of a flash point
# The first thing I heard was my dad with a hash joint... #
Hip-hop wasn't just imported, it was claimed.
# "Stay at home for your own safety
# "Sporadic attacks are on the increase lately"
# My da and uncle drunk, my mum took the wheel... #
You know, you see a lot of comparisons to the States.
America is coming out with a lot of issues.
Racism, different things.
Here, it's more of religion.
Sometimes back home, it's more of the colour of your skin.
# I'm never going back... #
Like, we were growing up here in Northern Ireland,
and, you know, everything that happened here,
and the bands that we had coming from Ireland were pretty boring.
Whenever we heard hip-hop for the first time,
it was the same message as what our punk bands were saying,
but they were coming from a racial background.
But, you know, when we were younger, the only music that actually
had that feeling in it was hip-hop.
I know people from Northern Ireland that write rhymes about
cruising down the boulevard with bitches and hos.
I'm like, no, you don't. There aren't any boulevards here.
We don't have any fucking convertibles.
You know, it rains all the time. Wise up.
You drive a tractor,
you know, or you drive a Nova SR
and you don't have a girlfriend.
Fucking tell the truth.
By the mid-2000s, confidence was building
in Northern Ireland's underground hip-hop scene.
The accent was local.
The stories were theirs.
Raw, real.
It was only a matter of time before someone broke through.
Jun Tzu came straight out of the bat
with the fucking strongest rap song
that's ever come out of this country.
There's not a single person that hears, "I was born in Belfast,"
and you don't go... IMITATES GUN COCKING
# Hear the shotgun shell blast... #
It was the first ringtone I ever had on my phone as a kid.
I've listened to every single one of his songs.
The impact that Jun Tzu had on
the rap scene in Belfast, it was more than just,
"I was born in Belfast." It's a lot deeper than that.
The boy just inserted himself in the culture at a time
that was desperate for it.
I always call him the General.
That's what he is to the Belfast rap scene. He runs the show.
# My da got out of jail, married my ma and made babies
# We were growing up eating Ulster fries and baked tatties
# Steak and kidney pies in glazed gravy
# I was a praised baby
# But saying that, I haven't been praised lately. #
I've always had a good bit of pride about where I'm from.
Like, I'm dead patriotic about the country
and patriotic about the city, both sides of the divide.
But I just don't feel like many people share that with me.
And he's one of those people where I'm like,
no, he fucking loves the country.
He loves where we live. And, yeah, I really get behind it.
There's nowhere else like here.
And he is one of them people that can speak on these
social issues in a way that none of the rest of us can.
I really do see him as a true activist through his music.
# I can't believe it that you're not even a Fenian
# This is treason
# We have every reason to stick a gun into his knees
# And put a bullet through and leave him bleeding. #
I was born in Belfast.
I lived here until I was like, six,
and then I lived in Manchester until I was 16.
# We moved to Manchester in 1996
# The same year the IRA blew the Arndale to bits. #
My earliest memories was my dad preaching,
you know, and trying to bring the two communities together.
He used to be involved in the organisations and everything,
but then he became a Christian in jail.
So my earliest memories, he was trying to bring peace and unity.
So I didn't even really understand any of the politics
until we moved away from Northern Ireland.
# They called us Irish Brits
# The kids in school cracking Irish jokes
# Always Irish that and Irish this
# Until that day
# Them boys had never met an Irish fist. #
I went to high school in Hulme, Moss Side,
which was, like, a predominantly black area.
They were all into rap and hip-hop.
# I'm ready for my conquest
# I could write a metaphorical trilogy like George Lucas
# But if he wanted me to sign it over
# I would cover your face with mucus
# Listen... #
I was just focused on writing, bro.
I loved to write, and it was about expressing myself
and getting it all out, you know?
And then that's how I got into it.
I always knew about keeping it real and authentic
and because of my accent as well,
then started rapping with my Belfast accent.
And then they all loved it.
# Cos I was born in Belfast
# Hear the shotgun shell blast
# Bang bang
# And your soul's going to hell fast
# You tried to jump but you fell fast
# Fuck surveillance, to hell with a mask
# Fuck commercial, I don't sell to the mass
# The alpha, the omega, I'm the first and the last
# I was born in Belfast
# Hear the shotgun shell blast. #
He influenced a whole generation of Belfast rappers, to be honest.
Like, a lot of people picked up the microphone
because they heard that song.
Because he was on Fire In The Booth and everything, you know what I mean?
He really showed that you could do this.
# I'll hunt yous all till you're deep down under
# Speak and I'll punch you
# Yeah, the reaper's amongst you
# I was born from the people of Ulster
# Now I swarm like a beast, I'm a monster. #
That right there
is what you call Fire In The Booth.
I want to take yous all the way into the archives.
In fact, here we go.
I've got a picture from 2013.
And this is me with Jun Tzu,
and it's a much, much younger-looking Jun Tzu
as well, at that. Yeah, yeah.
I don't think I've changed much.
I've looked the same for about ten years. That's mad.
At the time I thought he was Irish. I didn't even know.
I hadn't made the distinction between Northern Irish and Irish.
Then I heard him on Fire In The Booth, and I was like,
"Oh, OK. He's good." I was impressed.
Different accent, you know, a slightly different technique,
a slightly different style. Very, very good lyricist.
I had no idea at 2013,
when I'm stood there next to Jun Tzu,
of how the hobby would grow into a passion,
and then a passion would grow into an obsession,
an obsession would grow into a way of life.
Now a new wave of voices emerged,
artists shaped by migration,
mixed heritage and the search for identity.
We're going to be chatting to the one and only Jordan Adetunji,
who was recently nominated for a Grammy.
If you're not familiar with him,
Jordan is a Belfast artist.
Recently, he popped off online
and also in the music scene with his track Kehlani.
# Like-like Kehlani is
# Bad just like Kehlani is, OK
# Here where the party is
# Right here where the party is... #
It's crazy. I still feel like I'm still processing it.
Just having a song that I made my bedroom,
like, be up on the Grammys is crazy.
Great for, like, music coming out of Belfast and stuff.
It just shows you can do anything, no matter where you're from.
# But I'ma add to you
# I'ma give you some bands, I'ma add to you... #
I lived in London until I was ten
and then I moved to Belfast. That was different.
# Trust me, I was made like this
# I mean, literally... #
My mum thought, like, she just wanted to get away,
you know, just to start fresh.
# Big drip, like I'm one of the Migos
# I gamble with life, I don't play no casino... #
I was kind of one of the very few black boys in the school.
I was able to express myself. I was more proud that I was black
because in London, like, there was so much diversity,
you know, I didn't really feel different.
And over here, I felt different, but in a good way, you know?
And I feel that's what helped me advance as an artist,
because then I was already feeling like I'm trendsetting
something that people aren't doing.
# Back it, please
# You ain't gonna mash, you ain't gonna splash
# You man some neeks... #
These artists reshaped the scene,
blending cultures and histories
into new personal stories of belonging.
I'm a wee bit of a mutt.
Wee bit of a mongrel, beast of no nation.
I was born in Zimbabwe,
and I have some South African blood in me.
And both of those countries are post-conflict in terms of apartheid.
So it's very, you know, fitting that I would move to south London,
which is very diasporic, very diverse and very progressive,
and then to Northern Ireland, which is also post-conflict.
So I feel like those three chapters in different stages of my life
have very much influenced me as an artist
and me trying to figure out my identity and where I stand.
It's still a little bit of a journey I'm working on.
And the thing that plays the biggest factor
in my music is that soul-searching.
For many, hip-hop is a tool
to navigate identity and build new communities.
I'm Irish and Jamaican.
So Mum is Irish, Dad's Jamaican.
# Hop out the four-door Ford
# Update the scoreboard on my own accord
# And he's saying he's getting them racks
# I show him these packs so he knows for sure... #
I grew up in West Belfast. That's where I'm from.
Weren't many people that looked like me, you know,
so, like, growing up, you're just quite on your own in that way.
In terms of being Jamaican and Irish,
people just didn't understand it.
And for a long time, I didn't even know I was Jamaican and Irish.
I just knew that my daddy was black and my mummy was white.
You know what I mean? I was like...
I never thought anything of it.
You didn't really see or think about colour.
I started making a name for myself.
Everybody was like, "Yo, who's this kid who's, like,
"freestyling on these beats and everything else?"
You know, lo and behold, I release my first song.
Blows up, I then release another one.
Blew up everywhere, TikTok. Like, 400k views on TikTok
and getting press play and all contacting me.
Every mixtape, everybody, you know, trying to get in.
# And they said that they don't do snitching
# I see them talking to Peppa and George... #
I've got countless of young ones who message me on Instagram
about them rapping, and they've all started rapping now.
There's all these wee different collectives.
It's, like, there's never been this much rappers here, ever.
# Lexus Monroe
# Yeah. #
Music has always been my escape, you know?
Music has always been my escape from the world,
my escape from pain, my escape from everything.
# I really don't give a fuck what you think about me. #
Moving to Ireland was challenging
because of the language barrier.
I had to make friends.
I had to fit in into society.
I was always the shy girl.
I was always in my own corner.
# I'm trying to keep up with my scene
# But I think now it's too late. #
There was one day I was watching MTV
and I just had the epiphany.
I was like, "What the hell is this?"
And then I saw this female American rapper, Eve.
And when I saw her, I fell in love.
I looked at her, and then I looked at me
and I was like, "That is me. I want to be like her.
"I want to rap like her."
That's when my obsession to hip-hop began.
# I work hard, I make it happen
# That's why I'm the one they believe in. #
Rapping really helps me express things
that I would not express in real life.
Like, rap helps me fight my battles
to express my emotions.
If anybody tries to mess with my energy...
..I'll just put everything down on paper.
# If I was you, I'd be scared... #
This generation of artists is not just following a scene.
They're creating a new cultural space
where mixed identities and stories can thrive.
For young artists, hip-hop was more than a pastime.
It was becoming a way of life.
There were people rapping over here,
but they were actually good.
And, like, when I looked around,
there was nowhere at all showcasing this music,
whether it was hip-hop, drill, R&B, whatever, you get me?
There were young guys making music here, young rappers,
urban, black, all different races, you know what I mean?
Catholic, Protestant, whatever.
And they deserve to be heard.
They deserve to feel like they can make it here.
RAP MUSIC PLAYS
it was hard at the start because, as you know, like,
rap's also associated with a certain type of bravado,
this hard man mentality where you don't cry
and if you have any issues, you just brush them off.
I talk about, like, the real realities
because I know I've got loads of young fellas listening to me.
Like, it's mostly young fellas between 18 to 21
that listen to my music.
RAP MUSIC PLAYS
I went from speaking about strictly the experiences
and the things we were seeing on the estate,
to now speaking about the things that I aspire to
and ideologies and philosophy and all the things that I'd learned
as a by-product of adapting to a new culture,
learning a new culture,
getting stronger from the uncomfortability
of the culture shock and the different experiences.
# Break it down to the floor for the people, yeah
# G double E on the sequel, yeah
# I just snatch away mics like I'm Deebo, yeah. #
Every artist now has a lot more control in their own hands,
because as long as you're making enough noise
and you've got... And you're friendly enough
and, yeah, you know how to handle yourself properly,
I really do think that you can do whatever you want in music.
You really do get to make statement pieces
and be like, "This is who I am.
"And if you don't like it, then you know where to go."
2024 was a breakthrough year for Northern Irish hip-hop.
Jordan Adetunji, best of luck at the Grammys.
We're going to be cheering you on from back over here in Belfast.
Suddenly, the world was watching.
HE RAPS
I cannot get over this song. I just...
I could listen to this on replay.
# I gamble with life, I don't play no casino. #
And then we have Jordan.
Because Jordan used... Like, Jordan used to rap before.
Most people don't know that.
HE RAPS
# You 'bout to, you 'bout to start a whole fire
# Now I'm on fire... #
I love it.
Jordan's so talented.
# I like the way that you get your own bag
# You don't need no-one help you inspire, huh
# But I'ma add to you, I'ma give you some bands
# I'ma add to you... #
The song Kehlani,
when I saw the way it was blowing up on TikTok
with millions of views, I was shocked.
And I was like, "Damn, we made it!
"Northern Ireland's on the map. We made it."
# Like-like Kehlani is
# Bad just like Kehlani is
# Here where the party is
# Right here where the party is... #
I feel like after Jordan dropped Kehlani,
the youths here had more hope
when it comes to hip-hop,
because somebody from here done it. Why can't you?
# I need Romani, Rebecca, Serena, Selena
# Let's start a whole choir, uh... #
Jordan Adetunji was always Jordan Adetunji.
Even in school, like, he was telling boys that he was a rapper
and he was going to be this world-class rapper,
and everyone just believed him.
Jordan Adetunji went from bedroom beats to Billboard charts.
His TikTok hit Kehlani set records across continents
and capped the year with a Grammy nomination.
Jordan Adetunji is probably the most exciting urban music artist
to ever come out of Ireland, north and south,
in my opinion, just based on what he's achieved in 18 months.
It's never been done before and never will be again.
The fact that he broke records on Spotify,
broke records on TikTok, broke records on Instagram,
the fact that he was on Billboard Africa,
Billboard Caribbean, Billboard America, Billboard UK,
do you know what I mean? Like, every continent.
And I don't think any other artist
in our generation - let alone just hip-hop,
in my generation anyways - has done that.
Maybe Kneecap is the closest,
but even they weren't featured in mainstream
commercial publications in every continent on planet Earth.
If Jordan's the most exciting,
Kneecap is currently the most important,
definitely with what they're doing and what they stand for.
# Cos I'm a H double O D
# Low-life scum, that's what they say about me... #
Kneecap burst on the scene in controversy.
Anti-British establishment, outspoken on Palestine
and proudly spitting in Irish...
..the trio's raw lyrics on drug use,
crime and inequality have divided opinion.
A dangerous glorification of violence...
..or an unflinching reflection of working-class struggle?
# More thugs, more scum Listen out on cases... #
I kind of feel like in many ways, they came out of nowhere
and they've taken the Belfast vibe to the world.
You know, they seem to fuse hip-hop
with a bit of punk and a bit of dance.
So in many ways they've kind of got,
you know, a lot of Belfast musical heritage
all sort of wrapped up in a nice...
And they're obviously rapping in Gaelic, which gives it that...
You know, which gave it, whenever they first came out,
that very unique flavour.
They've sort of created their own wave.
My hot take on Kneecap, I just think it's rebel music.
I think they're 100%. I think they're great.
I love that...
I love that they're keeping the Irish language alive through rap.
I think that's something that's really important.
They'd done a song years ago.
It was called It's Been Ages. I remember hearing it, going,
"That's actually a really good tune."
It's in my playlist, and I really enjoyed it.
And then I remember seeing on TV.
The whole row kicked off last month
when they performed in America at the Coachella music festival.
Onstage, they gave pro-Palestinian messages
and accused Israel of committing genocide.
They made, like, a political statement on the stage
and then they got themselves banned.
And I just remember being like, that's mad how quick that happened.
Guys are doing Coachella
and they're like the biggest punk band in the world. It's mental.
# He only started Naiscoil an mhi seo
# He just thinks you guys are lethal... #
There is definitely a big political aspect to them as a band.
I mean, they've always been controversial.
They've always been... Yeah.
# Guess who's back on the news? #
Liam Og O hAnnaidh was accused of displaying
the flag of Hezbollah at a concert
and also allegedly saying, "Up Hamas, up Hezbollah."
# Get your Brits out, get your Brits out... #
Let's be clear, they made some clarification around
some of the comments that they have made.
# We're on a mad one
# Get your Brits out, get your Brits out... #
Why would Kneecap stand up on a stage
and shout, "Up Hamas," and expect to get away with it?
The decision over whether a member of rap group Kneecap
will stand trial for allegedly displaying a flag
in support of Hezbollah has been postponed.
Breaking news from earlier today - the terrorism case against
the Kneecap rapper Liam Og O hAnnaidh
has been thrown out...
..following what's described as a technical error
in the way the charge against him was brought.
When people look at them, they're probably like,
"Oh, these boys are cheeky, they're cocky," all this stuff.
But I like it.
I'm like, this is hip-hop.
They're expressing themselves.
They're not scared about what people going to say.
# Tiocfaidh ar la, get the Brits out, lad!
# A one-way ticket, please, I've lost my bus pass. #
I like when somebody is different.
I like when somebody can shock me when it comes to music.
Kneecap is doing what hip-hop is all about - being controversial.
That's something that people are actually not doing these days.
People nowadays just want to vibe.
They just want something that they can shake with.
Free, free... CROWD: Palestine!
Hip-hop was a way of fighting the government.
You know, they would do that through music.
And what Kneecap is doing is the same.
It's just people will not understand
because some people are not used to the real hip-hop.
They're just used to the vibes.
Northern Irish hip-hop is entering a bold new chapter...
# Made so much I'm like a schmecked-out magpie... #
..a younger generation of artists carving out
a scene that's unapologetically theirs...
..grounded in local culture,
but hungry to compete on the global stage.
The essence of hip-hop is knowledge itself,
just a base level of self-awareness about yourself,
your actions, and other people's actions,
and the community's actions.
I would say the essence of hip-hop is respecting
that we're standing on the shoulders of giants,
the people who came before you, you know,
these black and brown African, Caribbean and American people
who helped make it.
That's definitely a big, big part
in paying homage to that and enriching it, right?
Also, you're speaking your truth, regardless of
where you're from and how that place is viewed.
Being unapologetically yourself, which is the big thing
that I think they really embody over here.
# Authentically Unapologetically
# Picking me, not picking the past... #
Hip-hop and Belfast, I still don't think it's found its permanent home
because we now have the likes of your West Belfast rappers,
where they are now on these trance and, like, rave songs,
but they're rapping over them, like that's not traditional hip-hop,
but that is hip-hop.
We have, like, all these different sounds.
I think we're still thoroughly evolving
and growing as we go forward.
No-one will ever be done creating and pushing boundaries.
# Ask me, go one, the glide, you know I can't say no
# Packs get mashed in tubs like Play-Doh... #
Hip-hop has always borrowed sounds. It's literally founded on
borrowing sounds from other genres
and fusing it together to create something new.
In many ways, that's kind of
what people in Belfast have been doing.
# I'm too smart for the beef
# I'm not replying to none of their minor disses
# Bro, listen... #
Even though the beats sound nothing like traditional hip-hop beats,
but that's like such a hip-hop thing - is to take something
and then spit on it, you know what I mean?
# Shankill, baby, aye a troubled one,
# Down the river, in the sea, in the rubble, son... #
Not everybody will get it and I get it.
Not everyone's supposed to like your music, you know?
But I feel like anyone can do anything, anywhere.
I just feel like it's just your mindset and, like,
how you kind of put yourself out there
and how you want to express yourself
and whether people draw to it or not,
you know, that's the end of... You know?
I think the reason why the hip-hop and Belfast culture gel
so well is because we're a country that loves to rant.
We're a country that loves to fight back
when we're doing, like, what we're doing,
and that's what the music's all about - that type of defence.
# From west to the east
# We all bleed, we all need a prayer
# We all need the peace... #
Why is this song different?
Why is the people different?
Because the story here is different.
That's where people need to study hip-hop before they judge people,
because there's a lot of style and sounds inside of hip-hop.
If there's artists that are telling
the story about what's going on in here, it's good.
Kneecap are now doing huge shows,
and they now are taking it to the next level,
which is going international with it.
It's incredible to see.
This guy's a fucking Irish hero.
Do you hear me?
Kneecap fucking destroyed the place tonight.
# Son, would you like a bag for your shopping?
# Not your nose I see your ankle tag... #
MUSIC: Kehlani Remix (feat Kehlani) by Jordan Adetunji