Some things should be off limits, like “propaganda” of drugs or suicide, according to Putin.
But, he said rather than heavy-handed banning, more delicate methods should be employed to “convince (youth) of the greater attractiveness of other values”.
On Saturday, Putin explained at a discussion with culture advisers that the foundation of rap consists of “sex, drugs, and protest against everything”, three things of which he finds drugs the most worrying.
He hinted that some rappers actually benefit from concert cancellations. “Some artists will now be lining up to have their concert banned and then get the so-called hype,” he said.
In an indication of what sort of role models he suggests for modern youngsters, Putin said Thursday that whenever he is asked, he thinks of a group of 96 youth that joined the Red Army during World War II; only six of them survived.
“Those are heroes, that’s youth,” Putin said.