Russia’s rap scene: No place for politics

A generation of young Russians has embraced rap. It’s become an ever-present soundtrack in the country. So what are today’s young Russian rappers writing about? What’s on their minds?

Pretty much everyone seems to have strong feelings about Russian President Vladimir Putin — but not rappers. This is wildly different from hip-hop in the West, where politics are deeply ingrained in the music and culture. 

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So what are rappers in Russia talking about in their lyrics? They have a platform and a microphone. So why aren’t they speaking out about real issues? Well, some of them are, while others have tried. But most just won’t go there. 

“I think for [rappers], it’s [a] kind of self-expression,” explains Russian music journalist Nikolay Redkin. “There are not so [many] youth culture institutions in Russia. So battle rap is one of them. You need to express yourself. But, for example, you can’t write songs, you can play guitar or piano — you think [is] battle rap good for you? You watch these battle rap videos on YouTube [and] you see how they get millions of views and you think, ‘I can do it also.’”

Related: Russia’s youth flex their political power

The World’s Marco Werman and Daniel Ofman recentlyspent time in Moscow at a rap battle. Here’s what that looked like. 

“I’m rapping about some positive sides which are in our life,” Vitaly Kobziv, who has been a rapper for about five years. “I prefer to concentrate on some really uplifting things in our life to underline, to make people be more attentive to such things which make our life better. Not on something sad, not on something depressive, but something uplifting.”

“In my music, I like to entertain,” says Ilya Mazellov, who goes by the moniker MZLFF. “I like to make sure I cover my bases. I want people to hear the music, to hear my disses, to hear the lyrics and not just the sound. Most importantly, I’m trying to use humor to really dish out some disses.”