Paul Glynn
Culture reporter
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Bob Vylan describe themselves on social media as the “prettiest punk/rap/alt thing you’ll ever meet”
Ipswich punk-rap duo Bob Vylan grabbed the headlines at Glastonbury Festival over the weekend, but for many readers, the name might be a new one.
Organisers of the festival said they were “appalled” after frontman Bobby Vylan led a crowd in chants of “death, death to the IDF [Israel Defense Forces]”.
The prime minister condemned them for using what he called “appalling hate speech”. And on Monday, Avon and Somerset Police said a criminal investigation has been launched over performances by the band and Irish outfit Kneecap.
The BBC said it should have cut away from the live broadcast of Bob Vylan’s performance and a spokesperson for media watchdog Ofcom said: “We are very concerned about the live stream of this performance, and the BBC clearly has questions to answer.”
Posting on Instagram on Sunday evening, Bobby – real name Pascal Robinson-Foster – appeared to stand by his on-stage comments, which had also included “free Palestine”, with the caption: “I said what I said.” He told fans he had been “inundated” with messages of both “support and hatred” and also called for “a change in foreign policy”.
On Tuesday trip-hop act Massive Attack showed their support by urging the media to focus on “what is happening daily to the people of Gaza” rather than focusing on Bob Vylan’s controversial set.
The provocative band were formed in Suffolk in 2017 by the singer, guitarist and poet, alongside drummer Bobbie Vylan.
Collectively known as “the Bobs”, the pair perform under their similar stage names.
The pair blend elements of punk rock and UK grime/hip-hop, drawing influence from the likes of the Sex Pistols, Dizzee Rascal and Stormzy as well as reggae dancehall, reflecting Robinson-Foster’s Jamaican heritage.
Their lyrics tackle themes around racism, police violence, capitalism and fatherhood; as well as the ills of homophobia and toxic masculinity.
After a string of early singles, they released their debut album, We Live Here, in 2020.
They then went on to tour with the likes of the Offspring, the Hives and Biffy Clyro and performed at the Reading and Leeds Festivals in 2021.
Their second (of five) studio albums, Bob Vylan Presents the Price of Life, entered the UK album chart at number 18, winning the Kerrang! magazine award for best album in 2022.
The same year, they bagged the inaugural award for best alternative music act at the Mobo Awards.
‘Free to disagree’
PA
Bob Vylan frontman Bobby Vylan – real name Pascal Robinson-Foster – made headlines at Glastonbury
Robinson-Foster, 34, initially started writing verse as a teenager around 2004, becoming an established performance poet under the name Nee Hi, as well as being part of 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 home town Ipswich.
He once said in an interview with Tribune magazine that he started the band Bob Vylan in a bid to “wind people up”, score some victories and alleviate boredom.
Speaking to the BBC’s Newsbeat at the Download Festival in 2023, the stage-diving provocateur explained their high-energy and highly politicised 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 take aim at members of the crowd, verbally, and also swung a baseball bat on stage; as well as wearing football shirts of the rivals of the town or city in which they were playing.
The band previously performed at Glastonbury in 2022 for the BBC, playing a rendition of their track Wicked and Bad, which denigrates former UK PM Margaret Thatcher and includes the line “eat the rich”.
During their Glastonbury set this year, the rapper – whose band have also played Coachella and collaborated with 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, just ahead of another controversial rap group, Kneecap.
Although there was no live stream of Kneecap’s performance, the BBC later 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 set 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, where he said politicians should be “utterly ashamed” about 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…”
Just like Kneecap, Bob Vylan’s name isn’t going away any time soon.