Russia’s president, Vladimir [Vladimirovich] Putin, has said the Kremlin should play a leading role in Russian rap music and youth culture, rather than trying to shut it down.
His comments on Saturday follow a spate of concert cancellations by venue owners and local authorities across Russia and the brief arrest of a popular rap artist, Husky. The crackdown has sparked considerable discussion in recent months, especially among young people. Putin said such heavy-handed measures were often counterproductive, and suggested an alternative approach. “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. [Read more]. |
Russian rapper Husky, whose songs have criticised the government, has had some of his shows cancelled. Photo: Artyom Geodakyan/TASS.
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