SUBCULTURES OF PROVINCE: A TRIBUTE TO THE CAPITAL'S FASHION OR A REQUEST FROM THE YOUTH SPHERE? (ON MATERIALS OF THE HIP-HOP SUBCULTURE)

Abstract

The article discusses the causes that led to the spread of hip-hop subculture in regional cities of Russia. We decompose the time period covering the end of the 1990s - the beginning of 2000s. Material for the study are semistructured interviews taken from representatives of this subculture during this period. Fashion for this subculture from Moscow is not the only reason for the spread of hip-hop in Samara. The study showed that the spread of hip-hop in Samara was strongly influenced by the social situation in which young people lived in the first decades after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Young people felt a deep social and spiritual crisis in the country. There were several youth subcultures in the city in this background: skinheads, rastamans, rockers, hip-hop. The materials of the interviews allow us to say that a choice of young people among these subcultures bases on their priorities and values. The representatives of hip-hop have two key priorities: a healthy lifestyle and creative selfrealization. Subculture of hip-hop has become for teenager’s special cultural space that is different from the dominant cultural which had strong value uncertainty. We believe that the spread of the hip-hop subculture in regional cities was not only a tribute to the capital fashion, but also a means of overcoming the social crisis arised from the collapse of the USSR.