Bob Vylan: the rappers who want to ‘dig up Maggie's grave'

Telegraph

14 hours ago

Bobby Vylan bounced around the Glastonbury stage, rattling off a foul-mouthed tirade calling for violence that was then broadcast to the nation by the BBC.
But this was not the duo's festival performance this year where they called for death to the Israeli Defense Forces in an attack condemned as 'deeply offensive' by the BBC and as 'crossing the line' by the festival organisers.
It was instead a rendition of the grime-punk double act's 'Wicked and Bad', in the BBC's own studio, as part of its coverage of Glastonbury 2022.
'Let's go dig up Maggie's grave and ask her where that milk went,' the dreadlocked frontman sputtered while holding a baseball bat, adding: 'Down to storm those Downing doors, run inside and f--- them.'
Wearing an England football shirt emblazoned with 'Visit Rwanda' accompanied with a symbol of handcuffs, the musicians continued: 'Eat the rich, eat the rich before they turn and eat your children. England's ending, death's still pending, burn those f---ing buildings.'
Bobby Vylan, whose real name is Pascal Robinson-Foster, is a self-confessed provocateur whose lyrics are laced with hatred for Britain and calls for the Royal family to be lynched.
Robinson-Foster, together with drummer 'Bobbie Vylan', an Arsenal fan from East London whose identity is unknown, formed the duo called Bob Vylan in 2017.
The pair have since catapulted themselves into the public eye by leading the crowd in chants of 'Free, Free, Palestine!' at Glastonbury's West Holts Stage crowd on Saturday, adding: 'Death, Death to the IDF!'
'We have done it all'
The frontman also ranted about a Jewish record company boss for whom he had worked, shouting: 'Recently a list was released of people trying to stop our mates Kneecap from performing here today. And who do I see on that f---ing list, but that bald-headed c--- I used to f---ing work for.
'So look, we have done it all, from working in bars to working for f---ing Zionists.'
The band boasted in a social media post on the day of their performance that they were 'finally at a point where the BBC trust us on live TV!'
Their performance, including all the chants, was broadcast in its entirety by the BBC on its live feed, which was subsequently cut for the pro-Palestine Northern Irish rappers Kneecap.
'Some of the comments made during Bob Vylan's set were deeply offensive,' a BBC spokesman later told The Telegraph.
The spokesman said viewers were warned at the time that the footage was offensive, adding: 'During this live stream on iPlayer, which reflected what was happening on stage, a warning was issued on screen about the very strong and discriminatory language. We have no plans to make the performance available on demand.'
Glastonbury Festival said it was 'appalled' by the statements made by Bobby Vylan, adding: 'There will inevitably be artists and speakers appearing on our stages whose views we do not share, and a performer's presence here should never be seen as a tacit endorsement of their opinions and beliefs.
'However, we are appalled by the statements made from the West Holts stage by Bob Vylan yesterday. Their chants very much crossed a line and we are urgently reminding everyone involved in the production of the Festival that there is no place at Glastonbury for anti-Semitism, hate speech or incitement to violence.'
But the BBC's coverage of Robinson-Foster goes back decades. After starting out as a poet, he came onto the broadcaster's radar in 2005 after he was asked to perform at the Black and Asian Police Association conference in Manchester.
In 2007 BBC Suffolk described him as an 'established performance poet' and published a sample of his music.
'Growing up in a boring place'
Robinson-Foster, from Ipswich, first became involved in anti-establishment music aged 14, reportedly joining a grime crew called Ear 2 da Street as a slam poet under the alias Nee Hi.
He told Trapped Magazine: 'It really just comes from growing up in a boring place.
'People either played football, dabbled in illegal activity or rapped… and I never liked football.'
The magazine dubbed Nee Hi 'the Fresh Prince of Ipswich' for his energy and old-school style.
Robinson-Foster has talked of the 'ills black and brown and working-class people have endured at Britain's hands'. He told Tribune magazine that Bob Vylan tries to 'wind people up' because doing so is 'one of the ways we can derive enjoyment from living in this country'.
'If I can just say a thing and you'll get upset then that feels like a small victory,' he added.
Bobbie, the drummer, similarly told Kerrang!: 'The ends justify the means. Whoever feels insulted about what we've said, well it's got to be done because we've got to have [them] understand this thing we're saying that they might not want us to say.'
In one of their songs – Lynch Your Leaders – Robinson-Foster raps: 'You want your country back from who? We want our country back from you.
'Till it all comes tumbling down. And we decide to grab that rope. Hanging today, come and see the hanging. Lynch your leaders.'
The group's most well-known song, We Live Here, was inspired by Robinson-Foster's daughter, who announced one day: 'We live here!'
'I knew it was going to be the title for something,' he told Bandcamp, adding: 'Eventually, I came to the conclusion that she'll have the same experience that I did. One day someone will call her 'n*****,' and I can't shield her from that.'
His daughter is thought to feature in the album artwork for their recent single, 'Dream Big'.
Other lyrics have taken aim at Britain, which they said was 'in dire need of a spanking', and a call to 'kill the f----ng Queen' and 'Burn Britannia'.
The rap goes: 'I wipe my back side with that flag. Spit in your mouth then I spit on the crown'.
Another song, Take That, says: 'Give Churchill's statue the rope and see if it floats.'
The duo also have a vegan hot sauce called 'Burn Britannia', which they sell in collaboration with 'Dead of the Dead'.
The band, which has toured with the Offspring, The Hives and Biffy Clyro and performed at Reading and Leeds Festivals in 2021, has previously complained of being 'underestimated'.
They wrote on X in 2022: 'It's a shame that people can't get into the tents/stages and we're constantly underestimated by these festivals but we won't be letting it happen again next festival season I promise you that.'
They are currently still set to play at Radar festival in Manchester and Boardmasters in Newquay this summer.
A spokesman for Avon and Somerset Police confirmed that video evidence from the pair's performance at Glastonbury this year will be reviewed.
He said: 'We are aware of the comments made by acts on the West Holts Stage at Glastonbury Festival this afternoon.
'Video evidence will be assessed by officers to determine whether any offences may have been committed that would require a criminal investigation.'