(I’m shocked myself that I’m writing about this)
Yesterday at one in the morning I was watching Versus (a popular Russian rap battle platform). That surprised me, though not as much as the fact that over the previous week I had repeatedly caught myself thinking, “so when is the Miron–Gnoyny battle finally coming out?”
I enjoyed it immensely, and most of all I enjoyed the thought that Russian culture is alive and evolving. The Russian language was like an electric current the performers were trying to use to strike their opponent.
Just don’t start throwing tomatoes right away and shouting, “How is this culture?!?! ”
Well then what is it? It’s a genuine poetry contest. Frankly, it’s not all that much rap. These guys write verse and scream it into each other’s faces. And 30 million people will watch it—that is, basically all the young people in the country.
Isn’t that wonderful? Sure, there’s profanity. Sure, the humor is quite often pretty lowbrow.
Even so, it is still a contest of Russian poets—such as they are. And it is in the Russian language—such as it exists in its contemporary form.
Postmodern poetry that has become mass culture and captivated tens of millions of schoolchildren and university students—this was something one could only dream of.
In any case, this is a hundred times more cultural than the comedy and song shows on the nationwide TV channels.
P.S.
Don’t ask who won—I’m still thinking it over and trying to get a better grasp of the rules. All this “fact-based battling,” “punchlines.” A brave new world.
Still, I can’t help saying that Slava KPSS’s moments at 19.15 and 19.27 — I personally liked them very much.
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