‘F that!’: Duma may allow musicians to shout obscenities from stage

Musicians have every right to use obscenities for self-expression and must be allowed to swear from stage if their shows have proper age restrictions, the deputy head of the Russian Parliament’s information committee said.

“People go to concerts, already knowing what to expect there. They’re not going blindly. This is art. He (the artist) sees thing this way,” Andrey Svintsov from nationalist Liberal Democratic Party said about the use of foul language by some musicians. 

“If you do not like it then just don’t go there. That's it,” he added.

According to Russian laws, performers may face fines and other forms of administrative responsibility for employing obscenities during their shows.

But the MP believes the restrictions to be “absurd,” saying that musicians and concert organizers shouldn’t be punished at all.

The fines don’t stop any artists from swearing, but only “show the ignorance of those, who issues them,” he said.

However, Svintsov insisted that such obscene shows can only be visited by those above the age of 18, with relevant markings included in all of the promotional materials.
Foul language should be tackled within the family, but not through fines and restrictions, the deputy added.

In late November, a show of popular rap-artist Eljey was cancelled in Russia’s Far Eastern Republic of Yakutia. Earlier, one of the angry locals wrote a letter to Russian consumer watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor, saying that “many Yakut residents were concerned by his questionable lyrics and his looks.” Eljey wears creepy contact lenses on stage and has his body covered in tattoos, while many of his songs contain obscenities and references to drugs.

In September, pop-singer Egor Creed had his sold-out gig called off in the southern Republic of Dagestan after the organizers said they couldn’t guarantee the safety of those attending. Creed faced death threats online as he was branded a “devil” and accused of promoting values unacceptable in Islam.

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