Belfast rap trio Kneecap burst onto the scene in 2017 with their debut single “C.E.A.R.T.A,” which all but cemented their whole vibe and outlook; proudly, defiantly Northern Irish, rapping in their country’s dying tongue, brazenly anti-authoritarian (and anti-British government), wickedly smart, and with a mile-wide wild hedonistic streak. Then came a few more great singles, the pandemic, and a wildly entertaining, soon-to-be-released origin story biopic where Mo Chara, Móglaí Bap and DJ Próvaí star as themselves alongside Michael Fassbender, and now Kneecap are finally releasing their debut album. Fine Art doesn’t rest on Kneecap’s laurels to date and doesn’t include “C.E.A.R.T.A,” “H.O.O.D” or “Get Your Brits Out,” but instead is a loose concept album set around one day at a fictional Belfast pub called The Rutz. Patrons include Fontaines D.C.‘s Grian Chatten, who turns out to be a pretty good rapper on “Better Way to Live,” and Lankum‘s Radie Peat, who sings the traditional Irish intro to “C3AG,” which opens the album. You can listen to the whole thing below.

We asked Kneecap to tell us about some of the inspirations behind Fine Art, and they made us a list of 10 songs that tie into the record, in some cases songs that were sampled on it. Those include Arctic Monkeys, Wu-Tang Clan, 808 State, Stiff Little Fingers and more. Check out their list and commentary below.

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KNEECAP – INFLUENCES BEHIND DEBUT LP ‘FINE ART’

Joe O’Donnell – “Caravan”
We sampled this track on our intro for Fine Art, it was taken from an experimental album from that ’60s that fused traditional irish with jazz music, and fusing different genres is something that appeals to us massively.

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Arctic Monkeys – “Do I Wanna Know”
The heavy bass in this song influenced a lot of the sound we had on the album and we were lucky enough to have the Arctic Monkey’s first bassist [Andy Nicholson] on our album.

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808 State – “Cubik”
We sampled this track in our track “I bhFiacha Linne,” we were heavy influenced by a documentary called Dancing on Narrow Ground based on the 90s Rave scene in the north of Ireland.

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Wu-Tang Clan – “The Mystery of Chessboxin”
This is one of our favourite tracks from one of our favourite albums and we wanted to emulate its infectious energy.

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DJ Zinc – “138 Trek”
This track taken from the garage genre in England and we wanted to incorporate this underground sound on the album.

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Marie Ni Choilm – “Amhrán na Scadán”
This is an old sean-Nós song from Tory Island off the coast of Donegal, an old way of singing that goes back a long time in Ireland.

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Stiff Little Fingers – “Alternative Ulster”
This song is a Kneecap staple, the attitude and the energy was something that massively influenced our approach on Fine Art.

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Rubberbandits – “Double Dropping Yokes”
This iconic song and the synth in it was a core element to kneecap and we wanted something to get a crowd going, as this one does and also is a lot of craic.

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Tiernan Courell – “Brute Force and Ignorance”
The traditional flute in this track was an inspiration for us to incorporate it into a hip hop song because it is quite rare to have that crossover and we think it works very well.

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Kneecap‘s movie is in US theaters on August 2 (it’s very good) and the band’s fall tour hits Knockdown Center on September 19.

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KNEECAP: 2024 US TOUR DATES
18th Sept PHILADELPHIA Theatre of the Living Arts
23rd Sept WASHINGTON DC Union Stage
19th Sept NEW YORK CITY Knockdown Center
25th Sept COLUMBUS A&R Music Bar
27th Sept CHICAGO Concord Music Hall
21st Sept BOSTON Paradise Rock Club
26th Sept LOUISVILLE Louder than Life Festival