‘If it is impossible to stop, then we must lead it and direct it’

Vladimir Putin wants to find a way to control popular music genres like rap, as its growing in popularity among Russia’s youth.

The Russian president has called on cultural leaders to devise a way of “directing” rap music, rather than banning it outright.

“If it is impossible to stop, then we must lead it and direct it,” he said.

Mr Putin told cultural advisers at a meeting in St Petersburg on Saturday that attempts to ban artists from performing would have an adverse effect and instead bolster their popularity.

The president said that rap was “based on three pillars: sex, drugs and protest”.

But he said he was particularly concerned with drug themes prevalent in rap, claiming “this is a path to the degradation of the nation”.

Mr Putin’s comments come amid a crackdown on contemporary music that evoked Soviet-era censorship of the arts.

Young Russian musicians have spoken out about the hurdles they have faced in recent weeks.