MOSCOW — He’s tracked Siberian tigers wearing military camouflage, hung out with motorcycle club members and shown off black-belt judo moves. Now Vladimir Putin is adding another groove to his tough guy persona: hip hop idol.
Since the Russian leader popped up last week on a music TV show surrounded by rappers, some in the Kremlin elite are following his lead. On Tuesday, lawmakers and musicians staged a “rap battle for justice” that included a freestyle message urging President Dmitry Medvedev to fight corruption and other problems faced by everyday Russians.
Putin, a self-described “jungle” kid hardened in fights on the mean streets of St. Petersburg, appeared on Muz-TV to hand out awards and declare that Russian hip-hoppers can help fight drugs and other problems of the youth.
He joked that the mix of hip hop, break dancing and graffiti could be more entertaining than Russia’s stereotypical combination of vodka, caviar and nesting dolls.
And he suggested that Russia — which has excelled at Western art forms such as ballet and classical music — could take rap into new realms.
“I have to say that young people involved in these arts in our country give them their own Russian charm,” Putin said in televised remarks Friday night. “Because rap … is being filled with social content, discusses problems of the youth.”
Putin did not technically rap — but he did deliver his speech clutching a mike to the backdrop of a hip hop groove. He clapped his hands while listening to the rappers, standing by the stage with the show’s mostly teenage audience.
Rappers meanwhile sang Putin’s praises and declared they would welcome the chance to record a track with the Russian prime minister, who has cultivated a bad-boy image over the years with cutting wisecracks and occasional rude language.
“For this is Putin, he is our idol,” rapper Roma Jigan said in one improvised flow. “Let’s give him a shout out so that the whole world hears it.”
Rap has only recently become part of mainstream pop culture in Russia, and purists still snub local rappers as copycats who clumsily adopt the gangsta appeal. Russian rappers are trying to fuse freestyle rap with a traditional Russian genre of songs about jailed criminals, their grieving mothers and abandoned children.
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