Russian hip hop

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Russian hip-hop is music in the style of hip-hop from Russia or in the Russian language .

History & Development

The beginnings of hip-hop in Russia are dated to the beginning of the 1990s , after the dissolution of the Soviet Union , the youth of Russia also opened up to subcultures from the United States of America and Western Europe. The first Russian rap song - Рэп ( rap ) - was released in 1984 by the group Час пик, a remake of the hit Rapper's Delight by the Sugarhill Gang - in which rap was used as a "stylistic device for musical idiocy", not as " Starting shot for hip-hop in Russia ”.

In March 2018, Johann Voigt reported for Noisey ( Vice Media ) about a change in hip-hop and rap culture: “For years, Russian rappers had only adapted US stars, for some time now musicians like Pharaoh and Oxxxymiron have also been developing a global sound who doesn’t deny his Russian roots. ”The music scene would basically mirror the patriarchal structure of society; only for a few years have there been successful independent labels that break away from classic role models and the musical-cultural impulses from the USA. There is a “Fuck the Majors ” attitude, artists market themselves via Youtube and Vk.com . Hip-hop culture arrived in the mainstream of Russian youth in the 2010s and is widely accepted.

The battle rap is, however, by the 2014 enacted under the government Putin's law against profanity restricted in public. In 2017, a battle between Oxxymiron and Slava KPSS was published on Youtube, the video was viewed around 10 million times within the first 24 hours. Russian media that reported on the viral video then received warnings and fined around 50,000 rubles .

Perception international

Russian hip-hop is only highlighted selectively in German and international media, internationally known artists only appear sporadically. In Russia, too, little international hip-hop was heard, as the English language was often poorly understood. Among the internationally recognized artists are, for example, Oxxxymiron , who is also active in several languages ​​and, like Seryoga, had his residence in various European countries.

Political hip hop

In 2012 the weekly newspaper Zeit analyzed the Russian YouTube channel RapinfoTV , on which musicians published texts critical of the government, with reference to the Tunisian rapper El Général - “The boy who toppled the president” . (The last video from RapinfoTV was published on December 20, 2013.) According to research of the time, RapinfoTV belonged to RIA Novosti and consists of five editors around a musician. In addition to criticism of Vladimir Putin and Dmitri Medvedev , the health risks posed by legal and illegal drugs are also discussed. Though a survey found around 90 percent of young people in Russia liked hip-hop music at the time, RapinfoTV only had around 50,000 followers on social media . Die Zeit therefore denied that the Russian hip-hop culture had political potential similar to that in Tunisia.

The musician Noize MC became internationally known because in his songs he obviously criticized the Russian government, in particular the behavior of the Russian rulers in the Ukraine conflict or the Russian state media , as a "brain fogging machine". After a concert in 2014 in which Noize MC waved a Ukraine flag, he was banned from further appearances for several months.

Noize MC is considered the antagonist of the pro-government Timati , who released a song called "My Best Friend Putin".

List of Russian hip hop artists

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c Johann Voigt: Rap from Russia part 1: How rap became the most important music in Russia , Noisey ( Vice Media ), March 14, 2018. Retrieved April 16, 2018.
  2. ^ A b c Johann Voigt: Rap from Russia Part 2: “No rapper shoots against Putin” , Noisey ( Vice Media ), March 23, 2018. Retrieved April 16, 2018.
  3. ↑ Russian media spread rap battle - and are punished by the state for it , Noisey ( Vice Media ), August 23, 2017. Retrieved April 16, 2018.
  4. ↑ Diane Hielscher : Russian Hip-Hop: With News-Rap Against Putin , Die Zeit website, February 9, 2012. Retrieved April 13, 2018.
  5. ↑ a b Nik Afanasjew: MC Staatsfeind , Fluter -Website, August 13, 2018. Accessed April 13, 2018.
  6. ↑ "Russia is one big meme" , interview with dekoder.org , October 11, 2018.