Yahoo News Russia's silenced rappers find unlikely ally in Vladimir Putin
Russian rap artists have long complained they are being targeted by authorities but now they may have found an unlikely ally in the form of Vladimir Putin.
At the weekend, the Russian president said attempts to shut down the art form were counterproductive and that an alternative approach was needed.
“If it's impossible to stop something, you've got to take charge of it,” he said during a live broadcast of a meeting of his advisory council on culture and the arts.
He said the question would be taken up by members of his administration.
“How to do this, how to take charge and guide in the necessary direction... That's the most important issue,” he said.
It marks a surprising softening towards an art form at odds with Mr Putin’s professed aim of restoring traditional values.
The Kremlin has frequently clashed with musicians and artists it believes are intent on political campaigning, such as the Pussy Riot collective.
In recent weeks, concert cancellations by venue owners and local authorities have been reported across the country.
The government’s rap battle generated global headlines last month with the detention of Husky – real name Dmitry Kuznetsov – whose songs mocking the authorities and highlighting police brutality have built a big following on YouTube.
When electricity was cut off at a concert venue in the southern city of Krasnodar, he used a car roof as a stage and performed in the street.
He was arrested for hooliganism and sentenced to 12 days in prison. He was released after only four days, reportedly following the intervention of members of the presidential administration.
Police explained the cancellation of Husky's show by “risks of extremism”.
The episode illustrates the dilemma felt by the Russian leadership. A new wave of rappers has become a voice for young Russians' frustration with their political and economic prospects, but attempts to silence them have only fed those concerns.
In particular, it has revived memories of Soviet-era repression and the decision to ban rock bands in the 1980s that only helped radicalise a new generation.
Prosecutors in Moscow have also launched investigations into the lyrics of two other rappers, Gnony and Khan Zamai, suggesting their songs were anti-Semitic or had neo-Nazi themes, which both rappers deny.
Other accusations include the use of profanity in songs.
The turmoil led Igor Matvienko, a music producer and member of Mr Putin’s arts advisory culture, to suggest introducing a parental advisory guidance system for concerts.
That prompted Mr Putin’s intervention, saying: “You said that rap (rests on) three pillars: sex, drugs and protests. Of all of these, drugs are the most worrying. They are the route to a nation's degradation.”
Mr Putin also addressed the question of how to regulate the musical genre's use of bad language. He said that he had talked about swearing with a linguist.
“She told me personally that it's a part of our language. It's just a question of how you use it,” he said.
Mr Matvienko also suggested guidelines on the use of swear words online and in the media, but Mr Putin said this was a sensitive matter as such words are part of Russians’ common culture.
Likening swear words to body parts, he joked: "We have all sorts of body parts, and it's not like we put them on display all the time, whether it’s hot or cold."
