Vladimir Putin is an archetypal political strongman who has always bent Russia to his will and wants the world to give in to it as well. Russian interference in the democratic process in the United States has plagued Donald Trump throughout his presidency and Russia has been alleged to have interfered in other elections such as the one in the United Kingdom that decided on Brexit as well as others. Russia’s military intervention in Syria has propped up the Bashar-al-Assad regime and cost countless lives and while the Western world shuns Saudi crown prince Mohammad bin-Salman, Putin considers him a friend. But strongmen have a soft underbelly of popular culture in their own nations that allows disparate voices. Singers, artists and even movie stars speak out using their celebrity status when others are cowed down, and in Russia those singers apparently challenging Putin are rappers. Like the artist Husky, who has been singing about the trouble that the man on the street faces, the high cost of living, rampant crime and political cronyism. So unsurprisingly, President Putin wants rap music to be ‘state guided’ that is, rappers can only perform at state-sanctioned events and avoid topics that might rile up the masses against their political overlords. This is a surprising turn of events even for Putin, who had invited a rap artist to perform at his inauguration. But while he projects strength abroad, he is worried about the influence of rappers among young Russians. Russia’s economy has been suffering thanks to decades-long Western sanctions that have slowed foreign investment into the country and the resultant inflations as well as persistent allegations of crony capitalism have done little to change perceptions despite his overwhelming win in the elections. But then again, Russian democracy is nowhere close to meeting the standards of the Western or even the Indian variety. That Putin allowed one of his daughters, Katerina Tikhonova, to appear on national television, almost certainly with his explicit approval, have  some Kremlin observers suspecting that he is grooming her as his potential political heir. Was that the final trigger for the stronger rap lyrics amounting to protest and might explain the current crackdown? Possibly.

Of course, cracking down on popular culture of any sort is a reaction of almost every strongman. This has been a precedent since time immemorial. There was a similar crackdown in India during the Emergency imposed by Indira Gandhi.  Before that, British colonialists cracked down on literature, pamphlets and plays. Writers and actors endured incarceration just as much as political leaders; they were just as important to the freedom struggle as politicians. By trying to bend rap music to his will, Putin might just drive it underground and while that might stifle Russian rap in  the short-term, it will come back to bite him or his successor in the long-term

Writer and Courtesy: The Pioneer

Vladimir Putin is an archetypal political strongman who has always bent Russia to his will and wants the world to give in to it as well. Russian interference in the democratic process in the United States has plagued Donald Trump throughout his presidency and Russia has been alleged to have interfered in other elections such as the one in the United Kingdom that decided on Brexit as well as others. Russia’s military intervention in Syria has propped up the Bashar-al-Assad regime and cost countless lives and while the Western world shuns Saudi crown prince Mohammad bin-Salman, Putin considers him a friend. But strongmen have a soft underbelly of popular culture in their own nations that allows disparate voices. Singers, artists and even movie stars speak out using their celebrity status when others are cowed down, and in Russia those singers apparently challenging Putin are rappers. Like the artist Husky, who has been singing about the trouble that the man on the street faces, the high cost of living, rampant crime and political cronyism. So unsurprisingly, President Putin wants rap music to be ‘state guided’ that is, rappers can only perform at state-sanctioned events and avoid topics that might rile up the masses against their political overlords. This is a surprising turn of events even for Putin, who had invited a rap artist to perform at his inauguration. But while he projects strength abroad, he is worried about the influence of rappers among young Russians. Russia’s economy has been suffering thanks to decades-long Western sanctions that have slowed foreign investment into the country and the resultant inflations as well as persistent allegations of crony capitalism have done little to change perceptions despite his overwhelming win in the elections. But then again, Russian democracy is nowhere close to meeting the standards of the Western or even the Indian variety. That Putin allowed one of his daughters, Katerina Tikhonova, to appear on national television, almost certainly with his explicit approval, have  some Kremlin observers suspecting that he is grooming her as his potential political heir. Was that the final trigger for the stronger rap lyrics amounting to protest and might explain the current crackdown? Possibly.

Of course, cracking down on popular culture of any sort is a reaction of almost every strongman. This has been a precedent since time immemorial. There was a similar crackdown in India during the Emergency imposed by Indira Gandhi.  Before that, British colonialists cracked down on literature, pamphlets and plays. Writers and actors endured incarceration just as much as political leaders; they were just as important to the freedom struggle as politicians. By trying to bend rap music to his will, Putin might just drive it underground and while that might stifle Russian rap in  the short-term, it will come back to bite him or his successor in the long-term

Writer and Courtesy: The Pioneer