Perception of the Political Agenda in the Texts of Russian Hip-Hop Artists by Their Fans (2017-2020)

The number of works by hip-hop artists with a political agenda reached the largest number in the time period from 2017 to 2020 than in all previous years. In this time period, the greatest involvement of popular hip-hop artists in political acts, such as: rallies, protests and public statements on social networks of their political views, was noted. Based on this fact, the relevance of the fans' perception of songs with a political agenda is extremely high. This work will help to study the attitude of listeners to politics in music. The present research is intended to examine the perception of the political agenda in the texts of Russian hip-hop artists by their fans over the time period from 2017 to 2020. The methodology includes: two stages of content analysis and online focus groups dedicated to the perception of the political agenda in the texts of the artists Face and Noize MC. Based on this work, it is possible to develop recommendations for building the artist's communication with his audience, if he uses a political agenda in his songs. The data obtained will be useful in the development of the musician's personal brand and its promotion.