David "Jinx" Lennon (born 20 August 1964 in Dundalk, County Louth, Ireland)[1] is an Irish punk[2] and urban poet.[3] As of Sep 2022, he has released 12 albums with songs on a broad range of themes.[4][5][6] He uses a rap-like vocal style, in a heavy Dundalk accent.[7] In October 2016, he released two new albums: Magic Bullets of Madness to Uplift the Grief Magnets and Past Pupil Stay Sane. Lennon says he found himself in a "bind" because he hated the characters he wrote about on a previous album, Trauma Themes, Idiot Times, and that it was too pessimistic.[8] He has no known connection to former Beatle John Lennon.[citation needed]
Lennon's work has been compared to Mark E. Smith and John Cooper Clarke for the "off-beat genius of his lyrics".[9] Themes which have been explored in his music include childhood, poverty inequality, the Celtic Tiger, domestic violence, mental health, loneliness, the importance of self-love, recession, emigration, anti-Irish sentiment, environmentalism, racism, the 2014 Garda whistleblower scandal, the Lisa Smith case as well as wider societal issues affecting the border region, Dundalk and Ireland at large.[10] In 2014, Lennon collaborated with Liverpool punk band Clinic.[11] A year later he contributed to Glór na hAoise - Songs of Solidarity and Resistance, a compilation album of music and poetry celebrating over 15 years of struggle against Shell at the Shell to Sea protest in north County Mayo.[12] Lennon performed at Rock Against Racism in Dundalk on 10 February 2018; an event organised by local artist and activist Sarah Jane Hopkins and supported by the Immigrant Council of Ireland.[13]