Getting on the Blacklist
Political controversy in music is nothing new. Punk and hip hop might immediately spring to mind as genres which, by their nature, throw punches at authority figures and muse on the unjust conditions which they have created - bands like the Dead Kennedys. They invoked a past president of the USA and metaphorically shat all over his image using obscene and violent lyrics in their music, whilst groups such as Public Enemy waxed lyrical on the ever immutable issues faced by black Americans with incredible prowess. Looking back even further, Ralph Chaplin’s ‘Solidarity Forever’ (performed here by Pete Seeger) and other traditional trade union songs lament the ills of capitalism and bolster banding up for fair wages and working conditions for workers. Anti-establishment is not, nor has it ever been, confined to any one genre; the failings of various governing figures can act as inspiration for any musician with a vested interest in politics. But what happens to the sound of revolt when even so much as suggesting you stand against the government could end with you in a casket?
The threat of death looms heavy over the heads of the Russian electronic duo, IC3PEAK - at least, that’s what some of their fans would have you think. In the single ‘TRRST’ ft. ZillaKami [1] from their 2020 album, До свидания (translates to ‘Goodbye’), Anastasiya Kreslina and Nikolai Kostylev express their borderline suicidal frustration in having their artistic freedom ripped away through censorship, and the inauthenticity of music without that freedom of expression. Kreslina’s frantic vocals are accompanied by a booming bass: Mama, they say I’m a terrorist - what? // I did nothing wrong, but I got on a blacklist. The song maintains an eerie ambience as the vocals continue, in a mixture of Russian and English, accompanied by tight percussive hits, ghastly harmonies and a synth that at times sounds as if it’s trying to claw its way out of the speakers directly into your brain. The band are, at the very least, aware that their music is deemed controversial enough for them to be specifically targeted by the Federal Security Service, and more broadly the Russian government.
IC3PEAK are well acquainted with their friends in the FSS, having had six shows cancelled during a 2018 tour, for such dubious reasons as “venue hygiene concerns”. During this stretch, the two were forced into a short period of detention in Novosibirsk - the reasons for which still remain unexplained by the authorities who took them in - making it impossible for them to attend their own gig. These arrests appear to be fallout from a music video for the song ‘Death No More”, in which the pair can be seen playing pattycake on the shoulders of riot police amongst a mixture of childish and grotesque activities, all against the backdrop of various government buildings and other culturally iconic locations. [2]
These restrictions on freedom of expression aren’t unfamiliar to Russian musicians: in 2012, members of the outspoken feminist group Pussy Riot were arrested for a number of months following a peaceful protest via performance in Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. Descending upon the central altar and singing their song ‘Punk Prayer’ donned in vibrant balaclavas and dresses resulted in charges of “hooliganism motivated by religious hatred” - the song's lyrics displaying a blatant disapproval of Putin and the church's support of the Russian president. To this day, Pussy Riot and their associates are regularly detained for their open disdain towards the Russian government. [3]
The theory of IC3PEAK’s imminent danger spread like wildfire through Reddit threads and TikTok’s - people from all corners of the world were screaming out that ‘TRRST’ was a cry for help, and we all had a responsibility to spread the word so as to create enough noise around the issue to block any incoming threat. The whole situation seems a bit surreal, and laying it out in this way might make it seem like a backwards way to promote the band’s music through the collective fear and gullibility of social media users. Though, it’s fair to say that Russia has a bad reputation amongst the rest of the world regarding censorship - how would we know they aren’t beyond the most extreme form of censorship in the book? How likely is it that IC3PEAK are living with deadly targets on their backs? When there is evidence that Russian musicians are already living with eyes in the backs of their heads for having opinions, what’s to stop the one’s in charge from pulling the trigger?
If ‘TRRST’ tells us anything, it’s that IC3PEAK are incredibly self-aware of their position. The duo know that what they are putting out into the world is not what their government wants, and yet they do it anyway. It takes a good amount of bravery to present your art to the public, and a good amount more when your work actively defies the perceived values of your homeland. Of course, the band aren’t happy about it - and that too is made explicit in ‘TRRST’. There are perhaps a select few who long for their art to be so controversial that they are hunted down and harassed by their own government. Attempting to snuff out the progress and growth of any artist for these reasons is.
Jello Biafra had a famous tussle with Tipper Gore in 1990, regarding the release of Dead Kennedys Frankenchrist. In 1986, the PMRC (Parents Music Resource Centre) sent raid officers to Biafra’s home for distributing harmful content to minors - specifically, the poster that came with the record: a print of an H. R. Giger work named ‘Landscape XX (Penis Landscape)’. [4] Perhaps there should have been some sort of warning on the label; perhaps parents should have been monitoring the media their children were consuming a little more carefully. Calling upon armed police to siege an artist's house, attempting to threaten an artist into giving up their authentic expression (no matter how vulgar), is simply unacceptable.
I do not believe that IC3PEAK are in any immediate danger, nor do I believe they will be shaking Death’s clammy hands any time soon. The single release did not seem to have any impact on the release of the album, considering it came out a week after. Kreslina most recently posted on Instagram in December of 2020. Considering the FSS have already meddled in the band’s livelihood, they would be suspect number one if either member were to disappear into the night. Assassinating a band with international levels of fame would not work out well for anyone involved. Though death is undoubtedly the worst option, being thrown into prison wouldn’t be much help either. Censorship can come in many forms, and it isn’t often that we see death posited as the smart or easy way to stop someone talking. If you have the power, which I believe most governments have, you can use an arsenal of devolved powers to throw tacks and set up tripwires at the feet of those you want to stop. They’ll fall time and time again, increasingly frustrated, and you know that if you keep it up they’ll throw the towel in at some point. Your freedom of choice doesn’t mean freedom of consequence - but when there’s a pyramid below you that’s been doing all the work, it’ll take a long time for the people to be able to hold you accountable. The state will always have this capability, but will scarce use it. Censorship of this kind goes beyond deplatforming, and into defying the human right to freedom of expression.