The Kremlin's TV pundits are hip rappers, too, ‘bro’

Do you enjoy cringing? If so, you’re invited to watch a new “rap” performance by the state television pundit Dmitry Kiselyov, who made a guest appearance on one of his network’s comedy shows this Thursday to promote his upcoming rap festival in Crimea.

In early December 2018, Kiselyov spent nearly 15 minutes of his prime-time news show defending rappers from a nationwide police crackdown, going so far as to recite some poetry by Vladimir Mayakovsky, whom he credits with inspiring Russia’s rap tradition (contrary to popular belief that the genre was imported “from Black America”). Dressed as “MC Kiselyov,” he rapped about “scolding America,” “sticking a gas pipeline on [Western] sanctions,” and mocked Theresa May and Angela Merkel for frowning more, thanks to Russia’s self-assertive foreign policy.

Here’s a taste of Kiselyov’s lyrical genius (it rhymes in Russian): “I’m 64, bro. I get out of bed at five. Rossiya on the TV screen and the Moskva river beyond my window. I throw on my white trainers, my favorite hoodie, jump in a cab, and bam I’m at the station.”