Ever since the name Banksy entered the cultural lexicon, guessing at the infamous street artist’s true identity has been something of an international pastime.

Now, fans believe the DJ Goldie may have accidentally revealed the true name of the mysterious painter, in an interview with Scroobius Pip's Distraction Pieces podcast.

"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,” said Goldie, who has claimed to be a friend of Banksy’s.

“No disrespect to Robert,” he added. “I think he is a brilliant artist. I think he has flipped the world of art over."

The artist’s casual use of the name “Robert” re-ignited theories that Banksy is actually Robert Del Naja, the 52-year-old member of trip hop trio Massive Attack.

Goldie appears to be laughing the rumours off, tweeting that he was on the phone with Mr Del Naja, 'f***ing p***ing our pants'" – not quite what you would call a denial.

While “Robert” could really be anyone – and the whole thing could be a giant prank, or a simple slip of the tongue – there’s some pretty compelling evidence to back the theory up.

Best of Banksy Show all 68 1 /68 Best of Banksy Best of Banksy Westwood, California A Banksy piece in California depicting a child wielding a machine gun, in black and white surrounded by colored flowers AFP/Getty Best of Banksy Manhattan, New York A rat on the clock of an old bank building Getty Best of Banksy Camden Town, north London Near the Oval Bridge PA Best of Banksy 'Sweeping It Under The Carpet' The piece, commissioned by this newspaper, is intended to represent a metaphor for the west's reluctance to tackle issues such as Aids in Africa Getty Images Best of Banksy 'Di Faced Tenners' In 2004, Banksy printed ‘one million pounds’ worth of his 'Tenners' PA Best of Banksy 'Love is in the Bin' During Sotheby's Contemporary Art Sale on 5th October the Banksy artwork 'Girl with Balloon' shredded through the bottom of the frame as it was sold. Getty Images Best of Banksy 'Urban decay' Seen on the side of building on Wilder Street in Bristol PA Best of Banksy 'Glory' Previously on view at Sotheby's New Bond Street, London PA Best of Banksy 'Balloon Debate' Banksy headed to Palestinian territories and created images on Israel's highly controversial West Bank barrier Getty Best of Banksy 'Kissing Coppers' Pictured on display in Lazinc Gallery in London in 2018 AFP/Getty Images Best of Banksy 'Spy Booth' On the side of a house in Cheltenham. PA Best of Banksy 'Escape' A Banksy artwork piece on Israel's highly controversial West Bank barrier in Abu Dis Getty Images Best of Banksy 'The Son of a Migrant from Syria' Artwork representing Steve Jobs, founder and late CEO of Apple, at the migrant camp known as the "Jungle" in Calais, northern France AFP/Getty Images Best of Banksy Artwork in 'Walled Off Hotel' Banksy launched a hotel in Bethlehem. The rooms of the hotel were filled with the artist's work, much of which being about the conflict Getty Images Best of Banksy 'One Nation Under CCTV' In the yard of a Royal Mail depot in Newman Street, central London PA Archive/PA Images Best of Banksy 'Brexit' A painted mural depicting a workman chipping away at one of the stars on a European Union flag in Dover Getty Best of Banksy 'Art Attack' Seen on Israel's highly controversial West Bank barrier Getty Best of Banksy Artwork in 'Walled Off Hotel' A piece of artwork in Banksy's 'Walled Off Hote'l in the Israeli occupied West Bank town of Bethlehem Getty Best of Banksy 'Let Them Eat Crack' A large mural of a rat wearing a tie and carrying a briefcase on a wall on Howard St and Broadway in New York PA Best of Banksy Artwork in 'Walled Off Hotel' An installation hanging inside one of the rooms Banksy's 'Walled Off hotel' AFP/Getty Best of Banksy Paris Napoleon Bonaparte wearing a headscarf inspired by the original painting by Jacques-Louis David AFP/Getty Best of Banksy 'Burning Tyre' A Banksy mural which was painted on the side of one of the classrooms at Bridge Farm Primary in Bristol during a half-term PA Best of Banksy 'Les Misérables' Artwork depicting the girl from Les Miserables affected by tear gas, opposite the French embassy in Knightsbridge, London PA Best of Banksy Zehra Dogan Banksy's 70-foot-long mural in New York, made to draw attention to the imprisonment of Zehra Dogan, a Kurdish painter from Turkey AFP/Getty Images Best of Banksy Paris A girl painting over a swastika cross AFP/Getty Best of Banksy 'Girl with Balloon' Originally on the stairs to Waterloo Bridge on the South Bank, London AFP/Getty Images Best of Banksy 'Cardinal Sin' On display at the Walker Art Gallery in 2012 Getty Best of Banksy Rage, Flower Thrower Painted on a wall of a gas station in the West Bank city of Bethlehem AFP/Getty Images Best of Banksy "Madonna with a pistol" In Naples AFP/Getty Best of Banksy 'No Ball Games' In Tottenham, North London PA Archive/PA Images Best of Banksy 'Cash Machine Girl' In Finsbury, North London PA Best of Banksy 'Peckham Rock' Installation of Banksy's at the British Museum in London. The artist secretly placed the mock historical piece in a gallery at the museum in 2005 and it went unnoticed for three days PA Best of Banksy Stained Window' A collaboration between Banksy and the City of Angels public school in Los Angeles AFP/Getty Best of Banksy Barbican Centre, London One of two murals near the Barbican Centre in London PA Best of Banksy Clerkenwell Green, London Described by its creator as "a monument to liars, thieves and bullies" Getty Images Best of Banksy 'Civilian Drone Strike' Capstan House in East London PA Best of Banksy 'Armoured Dove' In West Bank town of Bethlehem AFP/Getty Best of Banksy 'The Painter' Portobello Road, West London PA Best of Banksy 'Yellow Lines Flower Painter' Pollard Street, London Getty Best of Banksy "Kids on Guns" An employee of Bonham's auction house examines "Kids on Guns" by Banksy during a press preview in London on June 27, 2014, ahead of the Post-War and Contemporary Art Sale on July 2, 2014. Banksy's "Kids on Guns" and "Winnie the Pooh" have a collective value estimated to be in excess of Â£ 100,000 GBP (125,000 Euros, $ 170,000 USD). AFP PHOTO / NIKLAS HALLE'N -- RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE, MANDATORY MENTION OF THE ARTIST UPON PUBLICATION, TO ILLUSTRATE THE EVENT AS SPECIFIED IN THE CAPTION -- (Photo credit should read NIKLAS HALLE'N/AFP/Getty Images) NIKLAS HALLE'N AFP/Getty Best of Banksy Barbican Centre, London The second of the two murals painted by on the Barbican Centre, London PA Best of Banksy "Cans" London AFP/Getty Best of Banksy 'Sorry' East London AFP/Getty Best of Banksy 'Napalm, (Can't Beat That Feeling)' Displayed in an unauthorised 2006 retrospective in London Getty Images Best of Banksy Calais, France A child with a suitcase looking through a telescope with a vulture perched on it, in tribute to migrants and refugees on a beach in Calais AFP/Getty Best of Banksy 'Banksus Militus Vandalus' Displayed in an unauthorised 2006 retrospective in London Getty Images Best of Banksy London Artwork depicting former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill AFP/Getty Best of Banksy 'Donkey Documents' Moved from Jerusalem PA Best of Banksy 'A Girl with a Pierced Eardrum' A defaced piece of art on a wall in the city of Bristol, at Hanover Place PA Best of Banksy 'Sperm Alarm' Banksy's name is reflected in the glass covering his piece. One of seven initially stolen works by the artist. Getty Best of Banksy 'Art Buff' In Folkestone, Kent PA Best of Banksy 'The Mild, Mild West' Stokes Croft, Bristol PA Best of Banksy Paris A man holding a handsaw behind his back and offering a bone to a dog which leg has been cut off AFP/Getty Best of Banksy Peeing Dog Los Angeles PA Best of Banksy Bethlehem Painting on a wall in Bethlehem in the West Bank Getty Best of Banksy 'Slave Labout' A poor child making Union Jack flags on a sewing machine, located on the wall of a Poundland discount shop in the Wood Green area of north London Getty Best of Banksy Lower East Side, New York Painted during Banksy's month in New York Getty Images Best of Banksy 'Jay Zeavis' Glastonbury, Somerset PA Best of Banksy Paris Banksy said that he "blitzed" Paris with up to a dozen murals as a tribute to the May 1968 uprising and even took aim at the French government's hard line on migrants AFP/Getty Best of Banksy "I Love New York" A large mural of a rat wearing on Wooster and Grand Street in New York PA Best of Banksy Camden Town, north London A piece under Camden Street Bridge, almost directly behind the British Transport Police building in Camden Town PA Best of Banksy 'Very Little Helps' A child raising a Tesco's plastic bag as a flag in London Getty Best of Banksy 'I Don't Believe in Global Warming' Camden Town, north London PA Best of Banksy Camden Town, north London A new Banksy piece has appeared under the Oval Bridge in Camden Town, north London. Zak Hussein PA Best of Banksy Bataclan concert hall, Paris Artwork on a side street to the Bataclan concert hall where a terrorist attack killed 90 people in 2015 AFP/Getty Best of Banksy New Orleans, Louisiana NEW ORLEANS - AUGUST 28: Graffiti by the illusive artist Banksy adorns a building August 28, 2008 in New Orleans, Louisiana. New works by the artist, whose paintings are also sold in galleries, have been popping up throughout New Orleans coinciding with the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images) Sean Gardner Getty Best of Banksy 'Christ with Shopping Bags' Lazinc Gallery in London AFP/Getty Images Best of Banksy "Stop and Search" Shown at Artcurial French auction house sale in Paris AFP/Getty Images

1. Both spent their formative years in Bristol

Mr Del Naja, who goes by the stage name “3D,” was born in Bristol. He spent the years before joining Massive Attack performing with Bristol-based band The Wild Bunch.

While no one knows for sure where Banksy was born, his career started with freehand graffiti art as part of Bristol's DryBreadZ Crew in the 1990s.

2. Their art shares many similarities

A Massive Attack album cover designed by Robert Del Naja

Mr Del Naja is actually a well-known visual artist, whose art has appeared on every one of Massive Attack’s record sleeves. He started his career as a graffiti artist and is credited with bringing the stencil graffiti movement to Bristol.

Banksy, meanwhile, is arguably the most well-known graffiti artist in the world – and one who frequently uses stencils.

While stylistically different in many regards (which would make sense in terms of keeping a cover), there are distinct overlaps between much of Banksy and Mr Del Naja's stencil work.

Some of the clearest examples of the similarities in can be found here and here.

3. They claim to be friends

While both men have denied the rumours they are the same person, neither of them have denied there is a connection.

In fact, Mr Del Naja told the Daily Mail that Banksy is a “mate,” and that he’s “been to some of the [Massive Attack] gigs”.

The artist even made an appearance in Banksy’s 2010 mockumentary “Exit through the Gift Shop”. Banksy returned the favour by writing the intro to Mr Del Naja’s book, “3D & the Art of Massive Attack”.

4. They roll in the same circles

Banksy and Robert Del Naja's mutual friend Geoff Barrow performs at SXSW (Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images) (Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images for A24)

Mr Del Naja is friendly with Geoff Barrow of Portishead, and this is an important link when it comes to his possible second life as Banksy.

Mr Barrow interned at Bristol's Coach House studio at the same time a Massive Attack album was recorded, and the two men organised a charity concert in Bristol for Tsunami Relief in 2005.

In 2010, Mr Barrow produced the entire soundtrack for Banksy’s “Exit through the Gift Shop” – meaning there must have already been some sort of musical connection or appreciation between the two men.

Former Banksy spokesperson Lazarides Rathbone also told The Independent that after the two parted ways, "I saw him at a Massive Attack gig ... but maintained a healthy distance”.

Maybe because the artist was actually onstage?

Banksy sells for over $1m then immediately self-destructs

5. There is a clear pattern between Massive Attack tour dates and appearances of Banksy's work

Journalist Craig Williams helped fuel this theory last year, with a blog post matching the appearance of Banksy murals with Massive Attack tour dates.

The intrepid 31-year-old discovered at least six occasions on which Banksy murals appeared shortly before or after Massive Attack performances in the same city.

On one occasion, Massive Attack played a show at Toronto's Sound Academy on the same day Banksy murals appeared in the city. On another, Massive Attack took a residency in New York at the same time Banksy's “The Street Is in Play” popped in NYC. The same pattern has emerged in Melbourne, Boston, LA and New Orleans.

Mr Williams has proposed that Banksy is actually a group of artists that follow Massive Attack around the world, but some remain convinced it is Mr Del Naja himself.

6. Banksy has a thing for Massive Attack’s music

Banksy's "Dismaland," where Massive Attack was slated to play ( Matthew Horwood/Getty Images)) (Matthew Horwood/Getty Images))

This year, the artist opened the Walled Off Hotel in Bethlehem – a protest piece and fully functional hotel featuring a soundtrack by none other than Massive Attack.

The band was also slated to pay Banksy’s faux theme park, “Dismaland,” but cancelled at the last minute.

7. Banksy also cites Mr Del Naja as inspiration

In his intro for “3D and the Art of Massive Attack,” Banksy wrote of Mr Del Naja: “When I was about 10 years old, a kid called 3D was painting the streets hard."

“3D quit painting and formed the band Massive Attack,” he continues, “which may have been a good thing for him, but was a big loss for the city.”

8. Goldie said the name ‘Robert’!

Clifford Joseph Price, better known as Goldie: MBE (PA)