MOSCOW, February 18 (RIA Novosti) – Sometimes knowing your audience can be truly vital. A hip-hop aficionado in Russia’s far north proved this with his life when he was stomped to death this weekend for rapping at a sports bar.
The incident took place in the city of Arkhangelsk, the regional branch of the Investigative Committee said on its website Monday.
Alexei Gorlishchev, 25, was rapping at the local Bookmaker Pub, sparking the ire of some patrons, the Lifenews.ru tabloid reported.
One of the critics, Artyom Furzikov, 21, offered the rapper to “take it outside” – where he threw the artist on the ground and jumped on him, the tabloid said.
The victim died of internal bleeding shortly after hospitalization, said the investigators, who did not release any names, but confirmed rapping to be the cause of the brief fight.
The irate listener faces 15 years in prison if charged and convicted of intentional infliction of grave bodily harm that resulted in death, the committee said.
Hip-hop has had a hard time in Russia, with the 1990s seeing street wars between rap and heavy metal fans, complete with beatings and stabbings. It remains unpopular among many sports fans, especially those who have a tendency toward nationalist views and prefer punk, rock and related genres such as “oi,” favored by skinheads worldwide.
Russian music fans in Russia have killed before: In December, police in Astrakhan Region reported a taxi driver murdered by his two passengers over a music-related argument. No band names were released.
Last July, a Deep Purple fan in Nizhny Novgorod was stabbed to death by a drinking companion who asked in vain to hear some “chanson,” a specific Russian genre of music combining folk and cabaret influences with sappy lyrics about criminal life.
