A round table on the topic “Freedom of speech in rap” was initiated by rap artists in connection with a number of broken concerts of their colleagues. Rappers Zhigan (Roman Chumakov), Ptaha (David Nuriev), Maxim Inkov, known under the pseudonym Pra (Killa'Gramm), and video blogger Dmitry Larin came to the meeting.

On the part of the deputies, Mikhail Degtyaryov, Vasily Vlasov, Artyom Turov, Anatoly Vyborny took part in the discussion. The event was attended by representatives of the Prosecutor General’s Office, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Rosguards and the Presidential Commissioner for Children's Rights. The conversation was moderated by Maria Voropaeva, chairman of the youth parliament at the State Duma.

Before the meeting, one of the observers announced the imminent start of the “battle” between musicians and parliamentarians. The rappers cut the journalist off, stating that they had come to the State Duma with serious intentions.

“We came to a constructive dialogue, and not to fight. Battle on Versus "," Zhigan snapped.

As Voropaeva noted, the meeting took place at the initiative of musicians, concerned about the performances often canceled at the initiative of the authorities in the regions of Russia.

“We would not hold this round table if there were no such fears in the youth environment, indignations caused by the fact that in Russia, in their opinion, with the cancellation of concerts of rap artists, they restrict freedom of speech,” Voropaeva said , noting, however, that the Constitution not only enshrines freedom of speech, but also protects the security of the constitutional order, morality.

According to the musicians who came to the meeting with the parliamentarians, their compositions do not contain calls for the use of alcohol and drugs, violence and extremism.

“Law enforcement agencies often find in the songs a lot of what is not there. Experts who are not engaged in music, not knowing what creativity is, (find) a meaning that has never been there, ”said Ptah.

The rapper urged not to allow censorship against musicians.

“If a musician starts talking,“ suddenly a child will hear me here and will not understand, and he will do something ... At this, creativity ends and it turns into a flock, ”the musician shared his thoughts.

However, Colonel Vitaly Khmelnitsky, head of the department for interdepartmental cooperation of the GUNK Ministry of Internal Affairs who was present at the meeting, stressed that music should be more moral.

“Creativity should cultivate the values ​​of a decent life, serving the country and society,” he said.

However, the ban on the performances of the artist can only increase its popularity, said Zhigan. As an example, he cited the famous singer Eldzhey.

“I don’t like what Eljay does ... But by banning concerts, you make him a cult,” he noted.

In turn, Mikhail Degtyarev, chairman of the State Duma’s sports committee, noted that decisions to ban certain concerts are made at the local level, while parliament is in favor of preserving freedom of speech that does not violate the rights of other people.

“We are legislators, we came to the meeting with great pleasure, but not to be responsible for local government. We will be responsible for ourselves ... And local authorities will be responsible for themselves, ”the parliamentarian stressed.

The deputy also confessed his love for R'n'B music and read Sergey Yesenin’s obscene poem, omitting obscene language.

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In addition, the musicians who came to the meeting noted that participation in a meeting with government officials could seriously damage their image.

In response to the proposal of the deputy Vasily Vlasov to contact the legislators in case of unreasonable disruptions of concerts, the musicians stressed the impossibility of such communication.

"Our subculture does not allow us to contact you ... We cannot call and say" you know, the police or the prosecutor's office are breaking the law. " And the organizers are afraid, "- said Ptah.

At the same time, Voropaeva noted that the deputies also “got a dressing” on the social network VKontakte for inviting musicians to a round table.

With a hope for cooperation

Without waiting for the end of the round to become, rapper Zhigan decided to leave the meeting. “Talk about nothing,” he said succinctly, referring to his colleague Ptah. "It is useless, brother," the musician added and left the hall.

The remaining musicians in the hall still exchanged proposals with the deputies. In particular, Maxim Inkov proposed to create a project for interaction of musicians with young people.

The moderator of the discussion, Maria Voropaeva, and Anatoly Vybornyy, Vice-Chairman of the Committee for Security and Anti-Corruption, promised the guests to analyze all canceled speeches and, on the basis of him, to address the General Prosecutor’s Office of the Russian Federation with a corresponding request.

“We are ready to create an expert council on the platform of the youth parliament, including with you and your colleagues, to systematically assemble,” said Voropaeva.

Recall that on November 21, 2018, rapper Husky (Dmitry Kuznetsov) decided to sing in front of a crowd of fans, despite the concert in one of the Krasnodar clubs canceled by the local prosecutor's office. The musician climbed onto a parked car, after which he was detained by law enforcement officers and taken to the police station.

Husky threatened to initiate a criminal case for damage to someone else's property. Later, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Krasnodar Territory issued a decision not to initiate a criminal case, finding no indication of a crime in the actions of the musician.