The Ipswich-based punk-rap duo Bob Vylan garnered significant attention at the Glastonbury Festival over the weekend; however, for many, the group may be a newly discovered name.
Festival organizers voiced “appallment” following frontman Bobby Vylan’s leading of crowd chants calling for “death, death to the IDF [Israel Defense Forces]”.
The Prime Minister condemned the band, characterizing their actions as “appalling hate speech”. Furthermore, on Monday, Avon and Somerset Police announced the commencement of a criminal investigation into the performances of both Bob Vylan and the Irish group Kneecap.
The BBC acknowledged that it should have cut away from the live broadcast of Bob Vylan’s performance. A spokesperson for Ofcom, the media regulator, stated: “We are very concerned about the live stream of this performance, and the BBC clearly has questions to answer.”
In an Instagram post on Sunday evening, Bobby Vylan, whose real name is Pascal Robinson-Foster, appeared to stand by his onstage comments, captioning the post with: “I said what I said.” He informed fans that he had been “inundated” with messages expressing both “support and hatred,” and advocated for “a change in foreign policy.”
The provocative group was formed in Suffolk in 2017 by Robinson-Foster, who serves as the singer, guitarist, and poet, along with drummer Bobbie Vylan.
Known collectively as “the Bobs,” they perform under similar stage names.
The duo merges elements of punk rock and UK grime/hip-hop, drawing inspiration from acts such as the Sex Pistols, Dizzee Rascal, and Stormzy, as well as reggae dancehall, reflecting Robinson-Foster’s Jamaican heritage.
Their lyrics address themes encompassing racism, police violence, capitalism, and fatherhood, in addition to the challenges of homophobia and toxic masculinity.
Following a series of early singles, they released their debut album, We Live Here, in 2020.
Subsequently, they toured with prominent acts such as The Offspring, The Hives, and Biffy Clyro, and performed at the Reading and Leeds Festivals in 2021.
Their second studio album (of five), Bob Vylan Presents the Price of Life, entered the UK album chart at number 18 and was awarded the Kerrang! magazine award for best album in 2022.
That same year, they received the inaugural award for best alternative music act at the Mobo Awards.
Robinson-Foster, 34, began writing verse as a teenager around 2004, establishing himself as a performance poet under the name Nee Hi and participating in a grime outfit called Ear 2 da Street.
He was invited to perform at the Black and Asian Police Association conference in Manchester in 2005 and served as a mentor for young people in his hometown of Ipswich.
In an interview with Tribune magazine, he stated that he started the band Bob Vylan in an effort to “wind people up,” achieve some victories, and alleviate boredom.
Speaking to the BBC’s Newsbeat at the Download Festival in 2023, Robinson-Foster discussed their high-energy and highly politicized approach to music.
“I suppose it’s a life of experience under certain power structures that have kept us at a certain place within the hierarchy of this country,” he explained.
“When I’m recounting those lyrics, it can be quite cathartic to play these songs in front of crowds of people, and tell them about my experience.”
“It’s also a very, I suppose at certain points, emotional experience and emotional ride talking about these things in front of a crowd of people.”
He added: “You’re vulnerable… we put ourselves up there and we we talk about our life and the lives of people living in our communities, and people are free to enjoy it but they’re also free to disagree with it and they’re also free to heckle us or throw something at us or whatever it might be.
“So it’s quite a vulnerable position to be in, but you just have to have trust.”
In the past, he has appeared to verbally target members of the crowd, swung a baseball bat on stage, and worn football shirts of the rival teams of the town or city in which they were performing.
The band previously performed at Glastonbury in 2022 for the BBC, playing a rendition of their track Wicked and Bad, which criticizes former UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and includes the line “eat the rich.”
During their Glastonbury set this year, the rapper, whose band has also played Coachella and collaborated with artists such as Amyl And The Sniffers singer Amy Taylor, Soft Play guitarist Laurie Vincent, and rock band Kid Kapichi, brought out his daughter to sing with him on the track Dream Bigger.
The performance took place on the West Holts stage on Saturday afternoon, immediately preceding another controversial rap group, Kneecap.
Although Kneecap’s performance was not live-streamed, the BBC subsequently uploaded a largely unedited version of the set to its Glastonbury highlights page on BBC iPlayer.
The Irish-language act recently lost their US visa sponsor. Bob Vylan were scheduled to tour the US later this year, but US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau has now confirmed that the band will have their visas revoked.
In response, Bobbie Vylan released a video statement on social media on Monday, stating that politicians should be “utterly ashamed” of where their “allegiances lie.”
“First it was Kneecap, now it’s us two,” he said.
“Regardless of how it was said, calling for an end to the slaughter of innocents is never wrong…”
Similar to Kneecap, Bob Vylan’s name will likely remain in the news for the foreseeable future.
The party events led by cycling DJ Dom Whiting attracted 2,000 drum and bass fans.
It comes after Ofcom said it had asked the BBC why controversial remarks made by the band were broadcast live.
Ellie Chowns says while she is against “incitement to violence”, the row has had too much coverage.
Glastonbury Festival is always busy but this year they made changes to allow people more space.
Music fans enjoyed the return of Bristol Sounds to Lloyd’s Amphitheatre from Wednesday until Sunday.