Vladimir Putin and his followers stand reverently on the big stage in St. Petersburg. It is September 2022 and the Russian head of state has annexed four territories in Ukraine as part of his war of aggression, which according to Kremlin propaganda can only be called a “special military operation”. He now wants to celebrate this action, which is contrary to international law, on Red Square in Moscow in the presence of the entire country.
At the beginning, an angelic voice is heard on the pompously lit stage, singing the Russian national anthem together with the powerful. A young man is shown who has the appearance of a typical teen idol: he wears a black leather outfit, his childish face is framed by bleached dreadlocks. Thousands of spectators wave their Russian flags in front of the stage.
“A duet I wouldn’t have even dared to dream of!” the singer, who calls himself Shaman, later wrote in a video clip of the performance. Yaroslav Dronov, his real name, has become one of the biggest stars in Russian pop culture over the past two years. The 31-year-old fills stadiums across the country and his songs are played up and down the radio.
In addition to a fan base of women, young and middle-aged, who throw flowers and hugs at him during his performances, Shaman has apparently also won the hearts of the powerful in the Kremlin with his patriotic music. He is considered a favorite of Vladimir Putin and now attends most Kremlin propaganda events. Since the Russian attack on Ukraine, which violated international law, his music has become the soundtrack to the war in Russia.
Pathos and melancholy
Shaman not only represents a generation of stars in the country who followed the Moscow party line during wartime. He is also celebrated as a role model for the characteristics of a new, modern Russian society. National pride and traditional values play a major role.
The singer’s recipe for success is patriotism, wrapped in pathos and melancholy. This clearly touches the Russian heart. The cruel reality of war can be processed aesthetically through his music. The ruins in eastern Ukraine shown in Shaman’s videos cause great pain, but these images serve a greater purpose: the propaganda of the Putin regime.
Because the biggest enemy is the West, the US and Europe, against which, according to Putin, the Slavic countries must rise up. Dead soldiers are often made into martyrs. Russian propaganda says that you can feel sorry for these “heroes” of the war.
Shaman’s lyrics are also true to the line. He sings:
The crowd cheers him on.
His music aims to show a Russia that will overcome all adversities in the future. A promised land where life offers a deeper fulfillment than the supposedly superficial lifestyle of the West.
Shaman’s songs also manifest a worldview driven by apocalyptic and spiritual goals of perceived Eurasian supremacy. During performances, in addition to a bracelet in the colors of the Russian tricolor, the singer wears a large wooden cross to underline his commitment to the Russian Orthodox faith.
50 million views on YouTube
Dronow has undergone a remarkable transformation in his music career so far: he is a trained musician and studied at the Gnessin University of Music in Moscow. He made his first public appearances on television casting shows, including the Russian version of “The Voice.” His music at the time, commercial pop, was especially popular with teenage girls. It was only in 2020 that Dronow appeared under the stage name Shaman, initially without attracting much attention. His big break would come later.
A day before Russia invaded Ukraine, on February 23, 2022, he released a new single. The title is “Wstanem” (German: “We rise”). The song initially sounds like a baroque ballad and then turns out to be a pop song thanks to synthesizer effects in the chorus. Shaman sings with great feeling: “We rise as long as God and the truth are with us.”
Although his song does not specifically address Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, it does echo the Kremlin’s political rhetoric: Russia must rise up. His website states that he wanted to try out a new style of music. The composition was a divine inspiration for him. He was inspired by the ‘Russian heroes’ of the Second World War, known in Russia as the Great Patriotic War.
Shaman finally became really popular with his next hit “Ja Russki” (“I am Russian”). Nearly 50 million people click on the corresponding video on YouTube. «I’m Russian, I’ll go to the bitter end. I am Russian, my blood comes from my father. I’m Russian, and I’m lucky about that. I am Russian, despite the whole world,” he sings. Footage is shown of him sometimes strolling through a cornfield in a white shirt, sometimes as a rock star panicking his fans on stage.
Pop culture and modern fascism
But there are also critical voices in Russia: there is discussion on social networks about whether the musician plays with Nazi symbolism in his songs. The song “Moi Boi” is given as an example, the title of which can be translated as “Mein Kampf”. In another song “My” (German: We), Shaman is seen with short-cropped blond hair, combat boots and a bracelet in the Russian national colors. According to research by the media portal “dekoder.org”, the clip was published on Hitler’s birthday, April 20.
A thesis of the Danish art historian Mikkel Bolt Rasmussen is that Putin’s Russia combines the fascist dream with pop culture. Modern fascism is no longer limited to political parties and institutions, but can also be found in popular culture and internet culture. Parties are therefore no longer necessary to create mass movements. According to the expert, entire movements could be started with a mouse click on social media.
Music and art are seen as vehicles to accurately transport propaganda narratives into the hearts and minds of people and penetrate all levels of society. Shaman’s professionally produced music videos are spreading like wildfire on social networks and are being shared and commented on.
According to “dekoder.org”, state infiltration in Russia, Z-propaganda, is no longer limited to music and street art, but has also reached other areas of mass culture in Russia. In addition to films, rap and stand-up comedy that can be found on YouTube, TikTok is used to provide young people with Z-propaganda. The Latin letter “Z” serves as a symbol of support for Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.
The success of so-called Z-pop is based on principles that populists in other countries also use, including simple and highly emotional messages, repetition and the use of social media.
Many Russian cultural workers have left the country
The use of pop culture as a propaganda tool is in itself nothing new in Russia: Russian music stars have released songs in the past that portray President Vladimir Putin initially as a war hero and later as a protector of Russia. Pop culture was already used as a propaganda tool in the 2000s during the Chechen war. At the time, music and art focused on creating a cult of personality around Putin. When Russia waged war in eastern Ukraine from 2014 onwards, the story also changed. The ruler of the Kremlin was already sung as the savior of Ukraine in 2015 by singer Mashani in ‘Moi Putin’ (German: ‘My Putin’). “You challenge the world and give Crimea back,” she sings. Since Putin annexed the Ukrainian peninsula, Russia has claimed: “Crimea is ours.”
To the extent that the Kremlin has sought to reform the country’s institutions since the start of the major attack on Ukraine in February 2022 so that they align with Putin’s imperial worldview, cultural workers in Russia have also taken sides. Many had to leave the country under political pressure. Others have spoken out against the war, but their concerts or exhibitions have been canceled. These include musicians, theater directors, actors and other artists.
Shaman, on the other hand, decided to act as a pro-war activist and became a shooting star overnight. «Shaman is a very interesting phenomenon from a cultural and sociological point of view, but I don’t think he is an isolated phenomenon. It is the continuation of a long-term development of the Russian subculture, a nationalist and parafascist one,” Ilya Kukulin, a cultural historian and former professor at Moscow’s National Research University Higher School of Economics, told the New York Times.
Was Sjamaan called in for this task?
It is not known whether Shaman was used for his task by the power apparatus in the long term. According to observers, he was more in tune with the Russian zeitgeist. The researchers at “dekoder.org” write that with his songs he “captured a wave of political economy based on loyalty to the regime, support for the war and patriotism.”
It may be that the Kremlin’s patronage has paid off, at least for him. “There is government funding for this music, but this cannot always be explained by direct financial allocations. The financing is mainly reflected in basic matters, such as the provision of infrastructure, airtime, studio capacity and public performances at major events and in stadiums. None of this exists without the consent of state institutions,” historian Alexa von Winning from the University of Tübingen explained to the “Germany Editorial Network.”
But despite its success, Shaman’s overall influence on the worldview of Russia’s youth – the demographic most likely to oppose the war – is not very great, analysts say, according to the New York Times. This doesn’t seem to bother the Kremlin: the Ministry of Culture announced plans earlier this year to promote pro-war artists, perhaps hoping to repeat Shaman’s success story.
Used sources:
Soource :Watson
I am Amelia James, a passionate journalist with a deep-rooted interest in current affairs. I have more than five years of experience in the media industry, working both as an author and editor for 24 Instant News. My main focus lies in international news, particularly regional conflicts and political issues around the world.
