Now Vladimir Putin wants to control rap (in Russia, anyway).
Popular music has long been feared by those in power. They’re afraid of the messages and passions that can inculcate that masses with ideas contrary to what they want us to believe.
Rock’s role in social and political change has been well-documented. So has that of hip-hop. Which brings me to Vladimir Putin.
With its ability to turn up the sonic intensity and its lyric-dense messages, hip-hop is an excellent vehicle for riling up the masses. This has come to the attention of Vladimir Putin. He seems to be concerned at how this music could destabilize things in Mother Russia.
This is from Triblive.com:
Alarmed by the growing popularity of rap among Russian youth, President Vladimir Putin wants cultural leaders to devise a means of controlling, rather than banning, the popular music.
Putin says “if it is impossible to stop, then we must lead it and direct it.”
But Putin said at a St. Petersburg meeting with cultural advisers Saturday that attempts to ban artists from performing will have an adverse effect and bolster their popularity.
Putin noted that “rap is based on three pillars: sex, drugs and protest.” But he is particularly concerned with drug themes prevalent in rap, saying “this is a path to the degradation of the nation.”
