KNEECAP – Smugglers & Scholars feat. Killer Mike.
When we covered Smugglers & Scholars (W09), FENIAN hadn’t landed yet. It’s out now on Heavenly Recordings, Dan Carey-produced, debuted at number one in Ireland and number two in the UK. This new version adds a guest verse from Killer Mike of Run The Jewels, released as part of a limited deluxe digital edition of the album alongside a separate remix featuring 3D of Massive Attack on “Palestine”.
The fit is obvious once you hear it. The track was already built for this: thick low-end bass, sirens underneath, Mo Chara and Móglaí Bap rapping about revolutionary history and the gap between Ireland’s postcard image and its lived reality. Killer Mike steps into the middle of it and holds his own, connecting the track’s themes of working-class resistance and defiance to his own world without overwriting what was already there. “What if the next time they beating you here / somebody come with a 22” is the kind of line that lands differently depending on which side of the Atlantic you’re hearing it from, which is probably the point.
KNEECAP play Crystal Palace Park in London on June 27, their biggest headline show to date, with The Mary Wallopers, Fat Dog, Biig Piig, Gurriers, and Madra Salach in support. Full run of dates below.
Ireland / UK
- 05/29/26 / Belfast, Ireland / AVA Festival
- 05/30/26 / Belfast, Ireland / AVA Festival
- 06/27/26 / London, UK / Crystal Palace Park (with The Mary Wallopers, Fat Dog, Biig Piig, Gurriers, Madra Salach)
- 07/06/26 / Cork, Ireland / Live At The Marquee
- 08/12/26 / Winchester, UK / Boomtown
- 08/28/26 / Reading & Leeds, UK / Reading & Leeds Festivals
- 08/25/26 / Torquay, UK / Foundry
Europe
- 06/06/26 / Barcelona, Spain / Primavera Sound
- 06/08/26 / Bilbao, Spain / Santana 27
- 06/09/26 / Madrid, Spain / La Riviera
- 06/11/26 / Porto, Portugal / Primavera Sound
- 06/13/26 / Neuchatel, Switzerland / Festi’Neuch
- 06/15/26 / Milan, Italy / Circolo Magnolia Estivo
- 06/16/26 / Bologna, Italy / Sequoie Music Park
- 06/17/26 / Rome, Italy / Auditorium Parco della Musica Ennio Morricone
- 06/18/26 / Bari, Italy / Fiera del Levante
- 06/20/26 / Athens, Greece / Terra Vibe Park, Rockwave
- 06/24/26 / Helsinki, Finland / Allas Live
- 07/01/26 / Gdynia, Poland / Open’er Festival
- 07/02/26 / Roskilde, Denmark / Roskilde Festival
- 07/04/26 / Werchter, Belgium / Rock Werchter
- 07/13/26 / Ljubljana, Slovenia / Kino Siska
- 07/14/26 / Ljubljana, Slovenia / Kino Siska
- 07/18/26 / Plovdiv, Bulgaria / PhilGood Festival
- 07/20/26 / Istanbul, Turkey / Little Farm Park
- 07/30/26 / Waterford, Ireland / All Together Now
- 11/06/26 / Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg / Rockhal
- 11/09/26 / Stockholm, Sweden / BK
- 11/10/26 / Oslo, Norway / Oslo Spektrum
- 11/20/26 / Paris, France / Le Zenith
- 11/21/26 / Lausanne, Switzerland / Docks
- 11/22/26 / Zurich, Switzerland / X Tra
