[4][5][6] His provocative songs are known for being poetically contradictory[7][8] to his gopnik image, his aptitude for coalescing philosophical existentialism, biblical condemnations, and sophisticated references to Russian and European literature seemingly antithetical with his more obscene, anti-humanist[9] characteristics.
[10] At the age of three, he was taught to read using Russian classical literature and at four years old, he was formally baptized, although his mother frequented both Christian churches and Buddhist datsan.
[12] In 2010, his first year of study at Moscow State University, Kuznetsov worked as a journalist at NTV, VGTRK, and Russia-1, the main, state-funded news channel in Russia.
At Russian-1, he worked as a censor for televised, on-screen content: "My duties included watching Ukrainian and European channels and looking for bloopers in their reports, so that later they could be broadcast on the air.
[12] In 2013, his solo career would begin with his debut album "Sbch life" which referenced the sociopolitical dynamics of the Snow Revolution, Putin, and his views on political oppositionist Alexei Navalny.
[28] In 2011, Kuznetsov released "Седьмое октября" (October 7) on YouTube, a track which rapidly gained attention due to its title and lyrics - which reference Vladimir Putin's birthday and address major social and political issues in Russia.
[29] In 2016, Kuznetsov began releasing music videos for his second studio-recorded album, "Любимые песни (воображаемых) людей" (Lyubimyye pesni (voobrazhayemykh) lyudei/Favorite songs of (imaginary) people).
[31] Shortly thereafter, he would create three more film projects, although in 2019 the Russian-language documentary, 'BEEF: Russian Hip Hop'[rus] would help engender more dynamic cinematic endeavors.
As with Kuznetsov's prior work, the album deals directly with controversial political issues in the Russian Federation, including the presidency of Vladimir Putin.
[42] In the fall of 2018, following two, domestic terrorist attacks, the Kerch Polytechnic College massacre[43] and the Arkhangelsk FSB office bombing,[44] the role of rap in Russian society was reevaluated and a crackdown on the genre ensued, leading to performance cancellations,[45] police intimidation, and even jailtime.
[46] Because the assailants were minors, President Vladimir Putin considered their radicalism a reaction to the influx of Western globalization' and the violent tendencies of 'Western subculture.
'[47] The decision to ban performances of notable groups like IC3PEAK, FriendZone, FACE, Allj,Gone.Fludd, and Kuznetsov was fueled by both state rhetoric that rap music promotes suicide, drug addiction, Satanism, extremism' and treason,[48] Putin's main problem with the genre being its promotion of drug use,[49] while actual shutdowns were instigated by family-first, moral/ethical advocacy groups like Anti-Dealer, Common Cause and the What is Good Project.
'[55] Also included was the word Mash, the Russian news publication that would be first to report[57][59] on Kuznetsov's future 'suicide' off a balcony at the Moscow Ritz Carlton Hotel later the week.
"[55] On September 13, Kuznetsov staged his infamous 'suicide' off the balcony of a suite at the Moscow Ritz Carlton Hotel,[62][60] using a lifelike mannequin dressed in the same crimson tracksuit worn in a previous GQ interview,[63] as a body double.
The event had been preplanned and in the GQ Interview, Kuznetsov had alluded to this demonstration [64] through protestations of corporatism and stylists monotony, "If I were really a rapper now, then I would probably commit suicide.
[53][75][55] The appearance of Kuznetsov's fictitious death seemed to crystallize the postulated biblical narrative, the events chronologically analogous to the three-day Paschal Triduum.
[76] He announced via his VKontakte that the funeral was to take place at 3:30 pm in the Big Hall of the Stimul Palace of Culture, in Moscow, and was to be made public and livestreamed.
On September 16, Kuznetsov's symbolic, public funeral took place and garnished massive social-media attention, the term Husky trending on Russian Twitter and the official Instagram livestream reaching well over 8,000 viewers.
[80][81] The public was able to come, show their respects with flowers or wreaths, and take photos, in some cases kiss the forehead, of the rapper, who sat motionless in his coffin and occasionally opened his eyes to look around.
[83] An accompanying presenter cryptically orated Kuznetsov's goal through the week's many events, namely the hope of discarding his contrived identity as a rapper for a more autonomous variant.
Purpose: to continue to deceive God by arranging a public ceremony of farewell to X, "[83][80] On September 22, Kuznetsov announced his 4-month, 40 city 'Leprosy Tour,' [54][84] which was slated to cover the expanse of Russia, from far-East Siberia to inner-city St. Petersburg.
[87] Despite previously outspoken animosity from Russian state officials towards the rap genre,[88][89] the 2018 cancellations primarily came from 'family' organizations like Common-Cause, the infamous group Anti-Dealer[90] founded by ex-LDPR member Dmitry Nosov,[91] and the What is Good project.
[87] It was to be held in Arena Hall, but prior to the concert a warning was sent to Kuznetsov's then tour-manager Andrey Orekhov to suspend the performance due to childhood endangerment and 'extremist activity.
Then-lawyer Alexey Avanesyan[100] argued that the sentence was being unjustly used by the Krasnodar court to punish the crowd for attending instead of penalizing the rapper for wrongdoing.
Another reason for Kuznetsov's expedited release was said to be because of immediate, Kremlin intervention by political officials who began to support the rapper once they learned of his case, as reported by Chief Editor for Russian Television Margarita Simonyan.
A concert planned in Vologoda was cancelled prior to the rapper's arrival by Party Club XO art director Daniil Plotnikov due to intervention by the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
According to reporting done by MediaZona, the final cancellation was predicated on bureaucratic intervention by Vologda Oblast Ombudsman Olga Smirnova[108] who urged an assessment of the lyrics due to voiced complaints and concern for child-safety and wellbeing by angered parents.