Shouts - Music from the Rooftops! is a media project that publishes news, exclusive content, and interviews with protest musicians, socially and ecologically conscious artists, and activists from around the globe.
Snapshot from the lyric video for ‘Hundred Year Hunger’.
Veteran protest musician, Billy Bragg, wrote on his Instagram page that he wrote ‘Hundred Year Hunger’ in support of the Global Sumud Flotilla, a group of vessels heading for Gaza with aid. The aid project consists of activists, organizers, humanitarians, doctors, artists, clergy, lawyers, and seafarers – everyday people who have one common goal: to deliver aid and a message of unity, peace, and an end to the genocide in Gaza.
Bragg writes that the song views the current famine in Gaza “through the lens of a century of enforced food insecurity and malnutrition imposed on the Palestinian people, firstly by British imperialism, then as a weapon of mass displacement by the state of Israel.”
Watch the lyric video for the song below, or better yet, catch the song live at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire in London on 20 September 2025. Bragg will be accompanied by many artist friends for a night called Days Like These, a Gaza fundraiser evening for Amos Trust. Get tickets at Bragg’s website.
Love them or hate them, there’s no doubt Irish hip-hop trio Kneecap are having a moment.
Their music – delivered in a powerful fusion of English and Irish – is known for its gritty lyrics about party drugs and working-class life in post-Troubles Ireland. More recently, the group has made headlines for its outspoken support for the Palestinian people.
British police have charged member Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh (known by his stage name Mo Chara) with a terrorism offence. Ó hAnnaidh was charged in May, after being accused of displaying a Hezbollah flag at a London concert in November.
But this isn’t the first time an Irish republican group has courted controversy for backing other oppressed peoples. This has been happening for almost two centuries.
Unsanitised and vocal support
Ireland is composed of 32 counties. Twenty-six are in the Republic of Ireland, while six are part of the United Kingdom in Northern Ireland. When the British government withdrew from most of Ireland in 1921, the Irish Free State was largely Catholic, while Northern Ireland was more heavily Protestant. But these divisions are becoming increasingly irrelevant.
While Ireland is still split across two nations, public support for Irish unity remains strong, particularly among citizens of the Republic.
Kneecap’s members are from Belfast, the capital of Northern Ireland. They are also fierce republicans, which means they want to see Ireland united as one nation. One of their most popular songs, Get Your Brits Out, calls for the British state’s withdrawal from Northern Ireland.
Despite being undeniable provocateurs, they claim they aren’t interested in reigniting Catholic-Protestant conflict. They celebrate the similarities between both groups, rather than highlight their differences.
Ó hAnnaidh’s alleged terrorism offence came after he waved a Hezbollah flag at a London gig and chanted “Up Hamas, up Hezbollah”. Both Hamas and Hezbollah are considered terrorist groups in Britain. He will face court on August 20.
Irish-Māori solidarity
Kneecap is carrying on a long tradition of Irish groups who faced controversy for denouncing the oppressive acts of powerful states.
In the 19th century, several Irish nationalist groups expressed solidarity with other colonised peoples, especially Māori in Aotearoa New Zealand. Groups such as the Irish Republican Brotherhood (whose members were called Fenians) arguably saw Māori and Irish as co-victims of a tyrannical state.
Irish nationalist newspapers often wrote sympathetically about the colonisation of New Zealand, and tried to inspire Ireland to resist British subjugation, like Māori seemed to be doing.
This painting by Kennett Watkins, The Death of Von Tempsky at Te Ngutu o Te Manu (circa 1893), portrays conflict in 1868 between armed constabulary and Māori forces. Wikimedia
In July 1864, the Fenian newspaper The Irish People stressed British hypocrisy. It wrote, “savages we call [Māori], using the arrogant language of civilisation, but, honestly, they deserve to be characterised by a much better word”.
It also scoffed at the “unconquerable propensity of the Anglo-Saxon to plunder the lands of other people – a propensity which manifests itself most strikingly alike in Ireland and New Zealand”.
Similarly, in December 1868, the nationalist newspaper The Nation contrasted “valiant” Māori with “terrified” British. It sarcastically described Māori as “rebels (men fighting for their own rights on their own soil)” and mocked the British forces as “valiant men who could bully a priest”.
The article finished on a sombre note: “Mere valour will in the end go down before the force of numbers and the cunning of diplomacy”.
In Ireland, Parnell encouraged poor tenant farmers to pause rent payments to their British landlords. In New Zealand, Te Whiti encouraged Māori to dismantle colonially-constructed fences and plough the land for themselves. Both were arrested in 1881 within three weeks of each other.
The ‘No Rent Manifesto’ was issued on 18 October 1881, by Parnell and others of the Irish National Land League while in Kilmainham Jail. National Library of Ireland
So strong was the sense of kinship between Irish and Māori that, in the 1860s, there were persistent rumours of a joint Irish-Māori rebellion reported in the media and even New Zealand’s parliament.
In March, 1869, the conservative New Zealand newspaper Daily Southern Cross reported a large number of Māori “have decided on joining the Fenian Brotherhood, and have adopted the green flag as their national emblem”.
Later that year, the paper reported the supposed Fenians told a Māori resistance group that, “like the Maori, they hate the British rule, and are prepared to make common cause […] to overthrow that rule in New Zealand”.
However, these rumours were probably no more than a conspiracy fuelled by racist anti-Irish paranoia.
Actions and outcomes
Any tangible results of cross-cultural sympathy from 19th century Irish nationalists were mixed, at best. My ongoing research shows solidarity with Māori was partly motivated by humanitarian motives, but was also often used to make a point about Ireland.
Identifying with another oppressed peoples within the context of a corrupt empire was a powerful way to argue for improved political recognition within Ireland. Irish nationalists generally didn’t do much other than declare their sympathy.
Kneecap, on the other hand, seems willing to bear the legal and financial consequences of being vocal about human rights abuses in Gaza. Some of their shows have been cancelled, and funding providers have withdrawn.
While curated rebellion can be lucrative in show-business, Kneecap says the controversy following them is a distraction. They insist the world should focus squarely on Gaza instead.
Dobromir Ganchev of Bulgarian hardcore band Urban Grey uses a megaphone during their Hills of Rock 2025 performance in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Photo by Diana Nikolova, used with permission.
At Hills of Rock 2025, Bulgaria’s premier rock and metal music event that takes place annually in Plovdiv, Sofia’s hardcore veterans Urban Grey transformed a festival set into a statement of defiance. In a country where corruption scandals, rising costs of living, and mistrust of institutions regularly send people into the streets in protest, their music channeled those frustrations into a blend of raw sound and rallying cries.
Dobromir Ganchev, vocalist of Bulgarian hardcore band Urban Grey, performing at Hills of Rock 2025 in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Photo by Diana Nikolova, used with permission.
Formed 25 years ago by guitarists Nikolay “Bebo” Berberov and Chavdar “Chavo” Valchev, the band has spent more than two decades building a reputation for independence. “We live here, we’re children of the city…[we call ourselves] Grey, because we don’t try to make ourselves visible at all costs,” Bebo once explained. Their choice to stay outside the commercial music machine has gone a long way to keeping their message uncompromised.
Nikolay “Bebo” Berberov, guitarist of Bulgarian hardcore band Urban Grey, performing live at Hills of Rock 2025 in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Photo by Diana Nikolova, used with permission.
That message often takes aim at Bulgaria’s realities. In “The Solution is the Problem,” from their 2014 album Age of Awareness, vocalist Dobromir Ganchev spits, “Banks, bills, taxes — we’re debt slaves for life.” The song echoes the widespread frustration over the country’s low wages and predatory lending patterns. Songs like 2014’s “Freak Show” tackle financial manipulation, while 2022’s “Control” warns of authoritarian tendencies — themes that resonate in a country still reckoning with democratic backsliding and concentrated media ownership.
Dobromir Ganchev of Bulgarian hardcore band Urban Grey punctuates the beat with a hard stomp on the Na Tumno stage at Hills of Rock 2025 in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Photo by Diana Nikolova, used with permission.
On the Na Tumno stage, a phrase that roughly translates to “in the dark,” suggestive of the more underground and intimate experience it offers as compared to the Main Stage, these themes became a setlist designed for impact: “Freak Show”, “P.I.G.”, “Compromised,” “Control,” “Behind the Mask of Justice,” and “Treachery.” For longtime fans, this was more than entertainment — it was a musical version of protest slogans shouted in unison.
Sonja Traussnig, bassist for Bulgarian hardcore band Urban Grey, performs on the Na Tumno stage at Hills of Rock 2025 in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Her hair whips through the air in mid-motion as she leans into the performance, bass guitar angled forward. Photo by Diana Nikolova, used with permission.
One hardcore music fan, Redji, summed it up as “expressing the everyday problems you see on the news — road deaths, political theatre in parliament, rising prices, and above all the constant injustice in the air.”
A young audience member jumps with a fist raised during Urban Grey’s performance at Hills of Rock 2025 in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. The black-and-white image captures the intensity of the Na Tъмno stage crowd, with fellow hardcore and metal fans immersed in the moment. Photo by Diana Nikolova, used with permission.
Such injustice has been a recurring flashpoint in Bulgaria, from demonstrations against corruption to public anger at lenient sentences for violent crimes. At Hills of Rock, the crowd’s response — fists raised, voices joining Ganchev’s megaphone shouts — emphasized how Urban Grey manages to seamlessly bridge music and message.
Fans enjoy Urban Grey’s performance at Hills of Rock 2025 in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. The black-and-white image captures a man with a mohawk and beard, wearing a band shirt, with his arm around a woman in a harness-style top and bold makeup. Both are smiling and singing, reflecting the energy and camaraderie of the hardcore and metal community. Photo by Diana Nikolova, used with permission.
For the band, the connection begins with sound. Bebo believes that “true art happens when a band follows its own ideas,” explaining, “Modern trends are fleeting. What lasts is authenticity.” The band members see themselves less as political actors and more as musicians whose style naturally channels rebellion. Just as death metal bands embrace gore, Urban Grey use hardcore to amplify resistance.
Fans at Urban Grey’s performance on the Na Tumno stage at Hills of Rock 2025 in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, raise their fists and shout along to the music. The black-and-white image captures the intensity and solidarity of the hardcore and metal crowd, with audience members of various ages fully immersed in the moment. Photo by Diana Nikolova, used with permission.
Their music has gathered a community that treats concerts like rallies. “Awareness of human values, and never giving up on your goals” is how Redji describes the ethos. The band agrees, urging younger musicians to first focus on rehearsals, then “say everything you think — experiment, be brave.
Dobromir Ganchev, vocalist of Bulgarian hardcore band Urban Grey, raises his fist mid-performance on the Na Tumno stage at Hills of Rock 2025 in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. The black-and-white image captures an intense and emotional moment, with Ganchev’s expression and body language conveying the raw energy of the band’s politically charged set. Photo by Diana Nikolova, used with permission.
At Hills of Rock, that ethos resonated with their biggest audience yet. For Urban Grey, the sound always comes first, but in Bulgaria’s climate, the message is impossible to ignore.
Find a playlist of Urban Grey’s music below and to see more eclectic music from around the world, check out Global Voices’ Spotify account.
This article was written by Diana Nikolova and originally published by Global Voices on 20 August 2025. It is republished here under the media partnership by Shouts and Global Voices.
