Alarmed by the growing fondness people in his country have for the genre, Mr Putin has told a meeting of cultural leaders in St Petersburg that they must come up with a means to "lead it and direct it".

He acknowledged that attempting to ban rap in Russia would likely prove futile, as "protest" is one of its "three pillars" alongside "sex" and "drugs".

The latter is what Mr Putin said he was particularly concerned about, as he said any efforts to glamourise the use of drugs was "a path to the degradation of the nation".

He added that he considered "drug propaganda" to be worse than cursing.

His comments come amid a crackdown on contemporary music in Russia, with a rapper known as Husky having been arrested last month after staging an impromptu gig on top of a car.

The 25-year-old - who has garnered more than six million views on YouTube - put on the performance after a planned concert was cancelled because prosecutors deemed it to contain elements of "extremism".

Husky is known for rapping about poverty, corruption and police brutality.