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| Putin on Rap Music: It’s the Drugs That Really Bother Him | |
| (about 7 hours later) | |
| MOSCOW — Told that rap and hip-hop have grown wildly popular among Russian youth, and that the lyrics are rebellious, mention drugs and include many swear words, President Vladimir V. Putin mused about banning the music outright but then suggested instead he might try to control it. | MOSCOW — Told that rap and hip-hop have grown wildly popular among Russian youth, and that the lyrics are rebellious, mention drugs and include many swear words, President Vladimir V. Putin mused about banning the music outright but then suggested instead he might try to control it. |
| “If it is impossible to stop, then we need to lead, and in an appropriate way, direct” rap and hip-hop, Mr. Putin told a council of his cultural advisers, gathered this weekend in St. Petersburg to discuss state support for the arts. | “If it is impossible to stop, then we need to lead, and in an appropriate way, direct” rap and hip-hop, Mr. Putin told a council of his cultural advisers, gathered this weekend in St. Petersburg to discuss state support for the arts. |
| At the gathering Saturday, a music producer, Igor I. Matvienko, brought up what he called “problems in the development of musical popular culture, if you can call it culture,” posed by a recent proliferation of Russian rap and hip-hop artists. | At the gathering Saturday, a music producer, Igor I. Matvienko, brought up what he called “problems in the development of musical popular culture, if you can call it culture,” posed by a recent proliferation of Russian rap and hip-hop artists. |
| “If before it was marginal, today, believe me, unfortunately it cannot be compared to the movies, theater or classical music,” Mr. Matvienko said of rap in Russia, which he pointedly noted was an American musical genre. “It’s what our youth listen to.” | “If before it was marginal, today, believe me, unfortunately it cannot be compared to the movies, theater or classical music,” Mr. Matvienko said of rap in Russia, which he pointedly noted was an American musical genre. “It’s what our youth listen to.” |
| Last month, the police arrested Dmitri Kuznetsov, a rapper known as Husky, when he performed atop a parked car on a street in a southern Russian city after his concert was banned for what local prosecutors called extremist content. | Last month, the police arrested Dmitri Kuznetsov, a rapper known as Husky, when he performed atop a parked car on a street in a southern Russian city after his concert was banned for what local prosecutors called extremist content. |
| Several other concerts were subsequently canceled, and the question of the acceptability of rap percolated up through the political system, making it inevitable, perhaps, that Mr. Putin would eventually weigh in. | Several other concerts were subsequently canceled, and the question of the acceptability of rap percolated up through the political system, making it inevitable, perhaps, that Mr. Putin would eventually weigh in. |
| Mr. Matvienko said a “huge number” of Russian rappers were popular with online followers, despite their music never being played on state-controlled television or radio stations. While rappers may lack this form of promotion, they have what Mr. Matvienko called an unfair advantage: They can swear. | Mr. Matvienko said a “huge number” of Russian rappers were popular with online followers, despite their music never being played on state-controlled television or radio stations. While rappers may lack this form of promotion, they have what Mr. Matvienko called an unfair advantage: They can swear. |
| “There is a lot of poetry in rap and it is very explicit,” he explained to Mr. Putin. “It is different from the falseness of pop, and because of this, perhaps, the youth accept it.” | “There is a lot of poetry in rap and it is very explicit,” he explained to Mr. Putin. “It is different from the falseness of pop, and because of this, perhaps, the youth accept it.” |
| Mr. Matvienko mentioned there was state sponsorship for a music studio where pop musicians record, and he suggested a similar arrangement might be set up for rappers that would bring them into the fold and restrict their vocabulary. | Mr. Matvienko mentioned there was state sponsorship for a music studio where pop musicians record, and he suggested a similar arrangement might be set up for rappers that would bring them into the fold and restrict their vocabulary. |
| But rap’s vulgarity was less of a concern to Mr. Putin, who has been known on occasion to dip into the Russian language’s rich trove of profanities in his public comments. The acceptability of swearing is only a matter of timing, Mr. Putin said. | But rap’s vulgarity was less of a concern to Mr. Putin, who has been known on occasion to dip into the Russian language’s rich trove of profanities in his public comments. The acceptability of swearing is only a matter of timing, Mr. Putin said. |
| “We have different parts of our bodies and we don’t put them on display all the time, when it’s warm or cold, you understand?” Mr. Putin said. | “We have different parts of our bodies and we don’t put them on display all the time, when it’s warm or cold, you understand?” Mr. Putin said. |
| Mr. Putin noted that rap was based on “three pillars: sex, drugs and protest,” and said he was most worried about the drugs. “That is a path to degrading the nation,” he said. | Mr. Putin noted that rap was based on “three pillars: sex, drugs and protest,” and said he was most worried about the drugs. “That is a path to degrading the nation,” he said. |
| Mr. Putin did not specifically endorse the idea of a state-run rap studio, but suggested it was important “to lead and guide” rap music “in the right direction with the necessary means.” | Mr. Putin did not specifically endorse the idea of a state-run rap studio, but suggested it was important “to lead and guide” rap music “in the right direction with the necessary means.” |
| The Russian leader is an accomplished amateur pianist and has been known to croon in public, but he is not known to listen to rap. | The Russian leader is an accomplished amateur pianist and has been known to croon in public, but he is not known to listen to rap. |
| The music genre has, however, found an audience with at least one Kremlin official: Mr. Putin’s former chief domestic political adviser, Vladislav Y. Surkov, is said to have hung in his office a portrait of Tupac Shakur. | The music genre has, however, found an audience with at least one Kremlin official: Mr. Putin’s former chief domestic political adviser, Vladislav Y. Surkov, is said to have hung in his office a portrait of Tupac Shakur. |