As many have written, and which is easy to find, trap in Russia has succeeded in becoming one of the country's most popular, and ubiquitous, hip-hop styles. Begun in the late 80s and early 90s in the American south, most notably Atlanta (Georgia), the rhythmic and in-your-face nature of trap became an instant favorite among younger generations, especially with the infusion of EDM, rapping, and various forms of digital processing and synth universes. In this post, in my unquenchable desire to know more about Russian hip-hop history and the aesthetics of the domesticated genre, I will briefly introduce an event that, although now overlooked by fans and scholars alike, was an important event in foregrounding the global nature of hip-hop. Called the "New Atlanta" festival, this one-off event held in Ufa, Russia, one of the growing capitals of the 'New School' Russian rap scene, aspired to bring the trap colors and ethos of its American counterpart to its shores, thus bringing attention to Ufa and the artists from the city (e.g., FACE, Morgenshtern, etc.) Turns out, not everything panned out, and the desired annual nature of the festival was cut short (thanks to COVID and other safety concerns) but historically speaking, it's fascinating to look back on such events, and investigate what about it made the participants excited, and why it should be remembered?
Held on December 12th of 2019, the "New Atlanta" festival was held to adoring fans in Ufa, with artists in attendance like rappers Face, Heartsnow, KURT92, Thomas Mraz, Basic Boy, and Morgenshtern, along with electronic dance trio Loud among many others names. The rapper Morgenshtern had presided over the festival's 'mosh pit', causing several injuries and resulting in heavy fines as Andrey Korolev reported. As one amateur video shows, the event was packed and full to the brim, everyone from rap fans to newbies conjoining in the 8,000-seat Ufa arena, built in 2006. Capping the festival was a concert given by inarguably one of Ufa's most famous rappers FACE, who presented for the first time his fourth studio-album "12", a 10-track work inspired by Alexander Block's 1918 poem "The Twelve." It was reported than nearly 6,000 people were in attendance that evening, and had lasted for five continuous hours. However, much like all things hip-hop in Russia, censure quickly followed due to the popularity of the concert and the lack of security protocols, although the latter is really just a distraction from the moralist outrage at the genre's hold on young generations. In post-event reporting City Council deputy Valerian Gagin noted the following,
"We have freedom of creativity in our country, freedom of expression. This is enshrined in constitutional norms. It seems to me that Ufa is one of the freest cities in terms of organizing and holding events. If this happens, it is very sad and bad. I wish the organizers strength to endure and wait. It is absolutely certain that restricting the freedom of creativity is unacceptable"
On the VKontakte profile of the event, in a post from the end of December of 2020 noted that while no official part 2 is in place at the moment, ideas are in the works for an event in the future. This is not all-together comforting given that the whole premise of this event was to instigate the creation of a annual festival. However, as most things go in Russia when it comes to Russian hip-hop, they grow extremely quickly and fizzle out just as fast if not aptly maintained and fostered with care. Further reporting noted that blogger Uliana Trigubchak, the individual responsible for first organizing the event in question, had been bothered right from the beginning by prominent conservatives about the event's operations, and yet had continued with the event. Later, she had been sued dogmatically for damages, totaling up to 93,000 rubles ($1,453.12). Although a small one-time event, it's significant to remember that the event's future was halted due to external censure, and that this (even in 2022) is not to be overlooked, as such stultifying of cultural development is often times what is needed to grow the culture. I look forward to seeing this event again, but it may be a long while yet.
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