You are now about to witness the strength of street knowledge , straight from the boulevards of West Belfast, the north of Ireland. NWA’s pistol-gripped provocations extracted only a letter of concern from the FBI , which the Comptonites predictably flouted with wild abandon. Kneecap ’s exploits, meanwhile, have sparked condemnation from British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and saw member Mo Chara hauled in front of a judge on terrorism charges (a case that has since been thrown out of court ). These are rare levels of infamy for rappers; the tag of “world’s most dangerous group” hasn’t felt so apt since the days of Eazy-E posing on the hood of his Chevy Impala .

The NWA comparison is not arbitrary: Kneecap members Mo Chara, Móglaí Bap and DJ Próvaí have cited their gangster rap forebears as a critical influence on their role as righteous agitators.…