Robert ‘3D’ Del Naja has, sadly, denied that he’s Banksy. Speaking at a Bristol homecoming concert with his band Massive Attack over the weekend, the musician addressed the accusations head on. “Rumours of me being Banksy are greatly exaggerated,” he told the crowd, according to High Snobiety. “We are all Banksy.”
If you’re a bit confused by all this, then here’s a quick referesher: last week, a blog by writer Craig Williams put forward a theory that ‘Banksy’ was in fact an alias used by a collective of street artists led by Del Naja. His thinking was that many of Banksy’s works were unveiled on dates that neatly coincided with Massive Attack tour stops, that Del Naja had previously said that Bansky was a close friend, and that Del Naja was once a prominent graffiti artist in Bristol himself.
The Massive Attack co-founder gave a similar statement to the Daily Mail. “Rumours of my secret identity are greatly exaggerated,” he said, “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.”
With Del Naja’s strongly worded denial, we’re back to assuming that Banksy is public schoolboy Robin Gunningham, a long-asserted rumour that has been supported by a scientific study. Still, we’ll settle for Del Naja’s musical talents – watch Massive Attack’s new video for “The Spoils” below.
