Bob Vylan

Bob Vylan is an English punk rap group from London, which was first started in 2017 in Ipswich. Their work mixes punk, hip hop, grime, and hardcore. The group writes words criticising the British establishment, inequality, racism, sexism, and homophobia. The members are Bobby Vylan who sings and  plays guitar; and Bobbie Vylan on drums. Both names are stage names that the band members use to hide their real names.

Bob Vylan and Kneecap were investigated by Avon and Somerset Police for things they said at the 2025 Glastonbury Festival. The singer of Bob Vylan, Bobby, was heard saying "death, death to the IDF" on stage, which caused some upset because it was broadcast live in the UK by the BBC. The United States cancelled the visa for the two members to perform there after this.

During a concert in Amsterdam on 13 September of that year, the band called the recently assassinated American right-wing political activist, Charlie Kirk, an "absolute piece of shit" and to "rest in piss" (a distortion of the Christian phrase, "Rest in peace", which is used for the dead), caused the group more controversy.

The band led another "Death to the IDF" chant during the same concert. Bobby Vylan also told the audience "Fuck the fascists, fuck the Zionists. Go find them in the streets".

A planned Bob Vylan concert in Tilburg was cancelled, after these chants.

The chants were condemned by the mayor of Amsterdam, Femke Halsema, and several Dutch MPs from different political parties, including Geert Wilders of PVV, Joost Eerdmans of JA21, and Caroline van der Plas of BBB. The chairman of the "Center for Information and Documentation Israel", said it was a call for a pogrom, and compared it to the November 2024 Amsterdam riots, when Israeli supporters of the Maccabi Tel Aviv F.C. soccer team were attacked. Concertgoers briefly blocked a tram after the show, chanting "Death to the IDF". The "Public Prosecution Service of the Netherlands", an organisation of Dutch public prosecutors, said it would be investigating the incidents.

References

Category:English musical groups
Category:Punk bands
Category:Hip hop bands
Category:Grime music artists
Category:2017 establishments in the United Kingdom
Category:Obscenity controversies