Did Goldie just reveal Banksy's real identity?

Drum and bass pioneer Goldie accidentally gave a crucial hint to the identity of Banksy by referring to the enigmatic street artist by his real name in an interview.

During a recent interview with Scroobius Pip for a podcast titled Distraction Pieces, Goldie was discussing the art industry with Banksy as a focus of the conversation.

Goldie was in the middle of a rant when Banksy’s real name accidentally slipped: “Give me a bubble letter and put it on a T-shirt and write "Banksy" on it and we're sorted. We can sell it now. No disrespect to Robert, I think he is a brilliant artist. I think he has flipped the world of art over”.

Although Goldie only referred to Banksy by his first name, it has long been rumoured that Robert ‘3D’ Del Naja of Massive Attack is behind the moniker. Goldie and Del Naja are in fact good friends and came up within the same crew in London’s graffiti scene during the 1980s.

In September 2016, journalist Craig Williams developed a compelling case that Banksy is actually a group of people working together led by Del Naja. The basis of the theory is built from a number of Banksy’s murals and installations appearing in cities in which Massive Attack have recently toured in. Dating back to Banksy and Massive Attack’s formative years in Bristol, the trail can be traced across the globe.

After Williams reported his findings, Del Naja responded to deny the claims: “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.”

So far no official confirmation has been made, but the latest evidence to surface from Goldie gives a strong indication that Robert Del Naja is the leader behind the Banksy brand.

Harrison is Mixmag's East Coast Editor. Follow him on Twitter here

[Via: Daily Mail]