In the early 2000s, after a solid ten years of progress and rather rapid innovation, although it must be said unquestionably touched by the hand of consumerism almost from the jump unlike its Western counterpart, Russian Hip-Hop began diving head first into the 'conscious' route. As a result of the Soviet Union's dissolution, Westernism a la exoticism was the general M.O, and thus Hip-Hop became a vehicle that emboldened youth used to distance themselves from anything Soviet, a pathway to envisioning a life outside the bleakness that was their childhood and projected future for so long. However, the dream would soon turn sour as the West they had idolized for so long began atrophying under its own weight, and the contentious 'uniqueness' of Russian culture began being invaded by an unscrupulous devotion to the Western capitalism system.
Artists like Detsl, Timati, Oxxxymiron, Ellipsis, and many others got their start in this climate, helped along by technological progress and the late stages of the mid-20th century Digital Revolution and the unavoidable ramifications of the late-90s "Third Industrial Revolution." More importantly, once Vladimir Putin positioned himself as Russia's great saviour, whose brand of "Classical Statist" (Eurasian or pan-Slaviet?) chauvinism stoked the post-Soviet desire for civic safety and national security while the influx of Western values/lifestyle/culture complicated his imagined neo-Soviet restoration, genres like Hip-Hop (and really all Russian culture) had become laced with political discourses in some way. As Irina Six noted, the fall of the USSR had split the Russian civil consciousness and as a result of Yeltsin's failed strategy of unconditionally uniting with the Western world, not only had Western antagonism reached a sociocultural apex but it had infused itself into the consciousness of Russian life itself (2008). What I call the "Russian paradox," presents itself; Yes, the USSR was bad but the West is worse and therefore, I would much prefer the USSR.
The Russian Hip-Hop Ethos
Slag-Donalds (2004)
There are plenty more albums and music-videos connected to not only this album but the broader Hip-Hop continuum that Scholars have ignored up until now. Therefore, blog posts going forward will be targeted towards talking about them and looking into why they were important for the development of Russian Hip-Hop, what they meant culturally, and how their music/texts reflect this sociocultural importance. Enjoy the album and until next time!!!
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