Something Ridiculous: Russian PM Vladimir Putin Attends Rap Battle

11/16/09 3:40pm

by Kate Harper (CHARTattack)

Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin is probably the last person you'd expect to see in the front row of a rap battle, but he appeared at one over the weekend nonetheless.

Putin, dressed in a white turtleneck, was at the show to give a speech on drugs and alcohol abuse, which are huge problems in Russia at the moment. According to ABC News, spectators screamed "Respect, Vladimir Vladimirovich" throughout the show, and you better believe you don't wanna be disrespecting Putin.

(Just a note on his middle name: In Russia, men's middle names are patronymic, which means they're derived from the name of the child's father. So basically, that should tell you Putin's father is also named Vladimir.)

ABC News reports Putin advocated hip-hop and graffiti as healthy because he said they prevented drug and alcohol addiction.

All that's well and good and none of it's really ridiculous. But the first part of the video below is. Putin can be seen in the front row, looking very, very out of place while everyone else waves their hands and bobs their heads and he stands. stock. still.:

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