English trip hop group Massive Attack has long been on the scene, paving their way through the industry with raw and powerful compositions and productions. But what if being just an industry power player wasn’t enough of a creative outlet for you? Journalist Craig Williams has connected some dots that may point to Robert ‘3D’ Del Naja as the real Banksy.
The foundation of this theory is that Naja is an established street artist, he knows what he’s going in terms of artistic expression. Though he may not have been chasing around spraying Wal-Mart grim reapers on the sides of walls throughout the 80s, his talents did stir up a bit of press and garnered him a touch of fame. Following up on this, he also admits to being good friends with Banksy in the Banksy-directed film Exit Through the Giftshop.
Further evidence is backed up by an odd correlation between where Massive Attack was touring and where Banksy’s art started popping up. Massive Attack played a gig in Melbourne and shortly afterwards, Banksy pieces popped up across the city. Flash forward to 2010 and Massive Attack goes on tour throughout North America, only to see more Banksy pieces popping up within days of their gigs.
But that’s not quite all. Banksy even went to write the forward to 3D and the Art of Massive Attack, which was published last year. And with a massive gig coming up in Bristol, Craig Williams states “I believe a new mural is highly likely to appear prior to or after the concert.”
Unsurprisingly, Del Naja has denied the claims, stating:
“It would be a good story but sadly not true. Wishful thinking I think. He is a mate as well, he’s been to some of the gigs. It’s purely a matter of logistics and coincidence, nothing more than that.”
Via Daily Mail
