General Info
This basic study documented the demographic spread between the 50 chosen albums of 2022 as reported by The-Flow, using the findings as a metric of the current tenor of the Russian popular music community. As the findings demonstrate, there is significant overlap of genres within the contemporary popular music climate, artists routinely using various genres on the same album, some rooting themselves in one but using others for color. Based on previous research on the aesthetic trajectory of Russian hip-hop,[1] trap has become the default for modern Russian hip-hop, while the genre itself has been infused with several different elements, leading to a rich ecosystem.
Another metric the study took account of was gender, although it is unsurprising that the majority of the artists featured were men. Of the 50 albums mentioned, 7 were exclusively women, with two mixed groups featuring both men and women. Female rapper Instasamka has risen in popularity in recent years, having come from the social media personality realm, using her sexuality as an advantageous way for increased public notability. Her presence on the list may convey The-Flow’s views on Instamsamka as a rapper, equal to her male counterparts. Other female artists like Dora, Missu, Zemfira, and Maybe Baby are representated in the aesthetic terrain from R’n’B and rock to trap (i.e., rap) and pop music.
Analysis
Many of the names chosen by The-Flow who situate themselves within the rap purview are more mainstream (or domestically popular). Artists like Kizaru, Loquiemean, Morgenshtern, and Scally Milano, represent a wide range of rap expressions, although falling predominately within the “New School” generation.[2] “Old School” artists are infrequently represented, Smokey Mo, 1996, and Vladi representative of a different aesthetic universe. Their infrequent mention provides an interesting perspective into what is considered “popular” within the Russian contemporary music space versus, although more concrete research is needed.
As the study showed, the predominate genre among The-Flow’s 50 albums of 2022 was rap, with various subgenres and genric varieties falling within its purview. For example, “trap” (inspired by the Atlanta-based scene), “boy rap” (in Russian patsansky rap) and “hookah rap” (kalyani rap) were featured alongside aesthetic mixtures with pop, reggae (another “Russian” characteristic), and jazz (harkening back to the 2000s with the infusion of R’n’B). Another subgenre that the list showed was “cloud rap,” its main practitioner Pharaoh (alias of Gleb Gebbadyevich Golubin) having effectively established the genre in Russia in the mid-2010s. Other aesthetic subgenres present on the list were drill and garage, two United-Kingdom based genres, whose appearance is connected with the growing network between UK-based and Russian-based rappers.
One album was labeled as “New Rap,” although based on previous research the main aesthetic of post-2010s Russian rap seems to be trap, with heavy influences of electronica, IDM, and rock. The relationship between rock and rap greatly expanded during the mid-late 2010s, and there is speculation that the relationship will only strengthen as time progresses. The study exposed the dominance of the “pop rap” (i.e., rap aesthetics situated to popular treatment), many artists choosing to make their music more accessible to larger populations by reducing the aesthetic barrier-to-entry. By consciously reducing the “gangsta” and grittier elements of the rap aesthetic lexicon, artists can enter new markets and reach wider audiences, although the question of “authenticity” is inversely raised when such changes occur.
One rarity on the list is the Soviet/Russian rock group Aquariam, whose seminality in the Russian rock’s history falls outside this study but has been the focus on concerted research by scholars like Artemy Troitsky[3] and others. One of the lead singers of the group, Boris Grebenshchikov, outside of his participation in the group, has formed a close relationship with Russian rap culture. The cover art for politically-active Russian rapper Oksimiron (Miron Yanovich Fyodorov), was created by Boris, the art causing a stir due to its semiotic ambiguousness.[4]
Of notable absence is the Buryatian rapper Husky (Dmitry Nikolaeyvich Kuznetsov) and his recently released album named “Russian Album,” although due to his beliefs around Donbass, given The-Flow’s internal politics, there is room to speculate on the motivations. Other hip-hop artists notably absent from the list include “Old School” names including Guf (Aleksi Sergeevich Dolmatov), the groups The Chemodan, AK-47 and Triguktrika, the rap project Krec, and Noggano/Basta (Vasiliy Mikhaylovich Vakulenko).[5] While the orientation of The-Flow is situated within the contemporary period, given the disparity between those “Old School” rap and rock figures named versus those not named, more research is needed to determine the true aesthetics demographics of Russian popular music released in 2022 and its status as a whole.
Relationship To Current Trends
In February of 2022, a joint study by Artyom Rondarev and Ivan Napreenko was released,[6] studying the practices in and around music from both the non-specialist listeners and industry insiders in a variety of positions. Among the many elements of the study, and there are many elements directly related to this research, the section specifically looking at the genre preferences and trends of Russian music listeners hold significant power in validating the research of this study.
However, there are easily discernable inconsistencies with The-Flow’s tastes and the surveyed tastes. According to the survey, the three most listened-to genres are rock (57%), electronic (46%) and classical (33%), whereas the top three most disparaged genres are none (36%), chanson/author song (33%), and rap (20%). But how can this be? If one only looks at the stats from The-Flow, it would seem that rap is the most liked genre within Russia, whereas the figures from Rondarev and Napreenko’s study would seem to suggest the complete opposite. According to the researchers, anti-hip hop sentiments are most common in populations above 35 years old, whereas those at The-Flow, we can assume, are generally younger. This poses a huge challenge if one is attempting to gauge the climate of listeningship in the Russian nation, as overemphasizing of one genre over another may skew actual results from larger studies whose age demographics are wider as well (i.e., mid-20s up).
An interesting statistic comes from the study’s beginning. This quote shows that there is still a hesitancy to listen to hip-hop and other genres which could be perceived as anti-cultural or culturally pollutive. It does stand to note that hip-hop and R’n’B are predominately black-based musical genres, although the value of this observation would need further solidification:
“Only for 44% of the respondents, the decisive factor in choosing what to listen to is the genre affiliation. Prejudices against specific genres are relatively common (only a third of respondents say they don’t have such prejudices), with chanson and art song being the most prejudiced (33% say they won’t listen under any circumstances), hip-hop and RnB (20%), metal (18%).”
Rondarev and Napreenko, 2022
Is there any value in this observation, that rap is actively disregarded, is not even in the top five most listened-to genres, and is relatively scorned among listeners? One of the obvious issues is the quality of the study, the demographics of those polled and interviewed a topic of concern. Most of the respondents were women (54%/46%), with ages ranging from 19-45. Although this seems like a diverse range, the fact that the majority of voices against genres like hip-hop and metal came from older populations shows shows that the study was a flawed one. These older populations do not participate, likely, in the youth culture of today, and therefore should have been disregarded from the study (if the point was to understand the youth culture and not just ‘listeners’ en masse).
Further, most of the respondents lived in Moscow and had received higher education. The latter does not mean a great deal, as many rappers themselves have received higher education. However, I speculate that geography may have power over the results. Also, socioeconomic status may also play a role, the majority of responses coming from those with limited capital to spend but not at risk of starving or homelessness. Perhaps these populations are more critical of pleasure and thus distrustful of music such as rap.
Final Thoughts
It’s clear that the gender imbalance is still a huge problem within the world of Russian popular music. However, to address this concern other areas need to be touched upon as well, mostly the overabundance of rap in popular music coverage yet lukewarm sociocultural reception.
Further, the genric diversity displayed in the fifty albums chosen by The-Flow conveys a sense of listlessness and/or late-stage development in the evolution of Russia’s popular music culture. That we have representatives from post-punk, alternative hip-hop, trap, rock, post-rock, and even IDM and electronica on one list shows the breadth of influences available to artists at the moment. It also speaks to the degradation of genre-specific labels by which artists must abide.
Albums like “AA Language” by Aarne show the evolved nature of an album, and the creative freedoms available to artists at present. But as rock becomes increasingly more potent, what will the fate of rap be? These two genres sit uncomfortably in Russian popular music history, but the cross between them is interesting.[7] Moreso how will the UK influence in Russia change over time with the increasing influence of garage?[8]
So many questions, so little time. Until next time!
References
[1] Vandevert, John. “A Contemporary Analysis of ‘Musical Russianness’ as Evidenced in Husky’s Album ‘Hoshkhonog’ (2020).” Researchgate, 2022. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/363662500_A_Contemporary_Analysis_of_Musical_Russianness_as_evidenced_in_Husky’s_Album_Hoshkhonog_2020.
[2] The terms “New School” and “Old School” when speaking about Russian hip-hop is not entirely clear, as some refer to the period of the late 1980s to 1990s as the latter, whereas the 2000s onward are considered the former. Here, I am referring to the post-2010s as the “New School” and the pre-2010s as the “Old School.” For a clearer dichotomy, see; Sobaka. “РЭПОПИСЬ.” Issuu, October 11, 2011.
[3] Troitsky, Artemy. Back in the USSR: The True Story of Rock in Russia. Boston, MA: Faber and Faber, 1988.
[4] Abanin, Lyosha. “Boris Grebenshchikov As an Artist: What is the Cover of Oksimiron’s New Album?” 2×2.media. https://media.2x2tv.ru/krasota-urodstvo-oxxxy-bg/.
[5] Based on other lists akin to The-Flow, a picture of which artists were considered most popular during 2022 can be gleaned. For another example, see: “List of the Best, According to RAP.RU, Russian Rap Albums for 2022!” Rap.ru, 2023. http://www.Rap.ru/news/15702.
[6] Rondarev, Artyom, and Ivan Nepreenko. “Practices of Musical Consumption of Russians. Main Features and Trends.” Institute for Cultural Studies. 2022. https://ics.hse.ru/news/560624195.html.
[7] Resonance. Review – Will Russian Rap Save Russian Rock?, YouTube. 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYpGVSIlhdU&ab_channel=RESONANCE.
[8] Gorbash, Lesha. How UK-garage became No. 1 in Russia. A history of the genre with commentary by Feduk, Markul and Kuok. Afisha-Daily. 2022. https://daily.afisha.ru/music/23771-kak-uk-geridzh-stal-no-1-v-rossii-istoriya-zhanra-s-kommentariyami-feduka-markula-i-kuoka/.
Symphonic Juncture 