"Generation Cancellation" is a 2022 single by the Russian

rave A rave (from the verb: '' to rave'') is a dance party at a warehouse, club, or other public or private venue, typically featuring performances by DJs playing electronic dance music. The style is most associated with the early 1990s dance mus ...

band

Little Big Little Big is a Russian rave band founded in Saint Petersburg in 2013 and currently based in Los Angeles, California, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

. The song was released on 23 June 2022, in response to the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

, and it condemns the invasion.

Background

Little Big frontman

Ilya Prusikin Ilya Vladimirovich Prusikin (, born 8 April 1985) is a Russian musician, singer, record producer, vlogger, video director and screenwriter. He is best known as the front person and founder of Saint Petersburg punk-pop-rave group Little Big. ...

said that the song was recorded on 25 February 2022.Холод (2 July 2022)
«Было бы глупо петь о том, что Путин развязал войну. Это частушки» – Илья Прусикин из Little Big — о войне, критике со стороны украинцев и личной ответственности за происходящее
(in Russian). Retrieved 6 July 2022. In March, the band left Russia for Los Angeles and shot the video for the song shortly after. Because of the post-production process, which was done by the Russian crew "who went all over the world", the release of the song was delayed. "Generation Cancellation" was released on 23 June 2022. In previous interviews, Prusikin criticized the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, stating "We adore our country, but we completely disagree with the war in Ukraine, moreover, we believe that any war is unacceptable." The band also announced that they had left the country and relocated to Los Angeles, stating that "we are so disgusted by the Russian military propaganda machine that we decided to drop everything and leave the country."

Composition

The song is described as an "aggressive hard rock" song with a few lyrics, mentioning how the younger generations, mostly

generation Z Generation Z (often shortened to Gen Z), also known as zoomers, is the demographic cohort succeeding Millennials and preceding Generation Alpha. Researchers and popular media use the mid-to-late 1990s as starting birth years and the early 2 ...

in Russia, are facing a new, war mongered civilization. According to William Lee Adams, editor of

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...

fansite ''

Wiwibloggs Wiwibloggs is a fansite and YouTube channel focusing on the Eurovision Song Contest, launched in 2009 by journalist William Lee Adams. History In April 2015, Wiwibloggs won the Arts & Culture category at the UK Blog Awards. Adams has judged ...

'', the lyrics "clearly express the helplessness that many opposed to the war feel."

Music video

Along with the song's release, a music video was released on Little Big's YouTube channel. The video makes references to major political leaders portrayed by David Alan Graf and Sam H. Clauder II; and shows the destruction brought by the Russian army. In the video, the video first shows an evil political figure, who is kept alive with an

IV tube Intravenous therapy (abbreviated as IV therapy) is a medical technique that administers fluids, medications and nutrients directly into a person's vein. The intravenous route of administration is commonly used for rehydration or to provide nutr ...

filled with

crude oil Petroleum, also known as crude oil or simply oil, is a naturally occurring, yellowish-black liquid chemical mixture found in geological formations, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons. The term ''petroleum'' refers both to naturally occurring u ...

, using soldiers (Howard Campbell, Andriy Zozulya, Qi Gu and George De Sclar) as chess pieces for the invasion, and giving a child (Ivan Logut) a

hot dog A hot dog is a grilled, steamed, or boiled sausage served in the slit of a partially sliced bun. The term ''hot dog'' can also refer to the sausage itself. The sausage used is a wiener ( Vienna sausage) or a frankfurter ( Frankfurter Würs ...

with a missile. Later, a news anchorman (Christopher Matthew Spencer) is shown broadcasting with the graphic "FAKE NEWS". The camera is then moved to shown the anchorman sitting a toilet, to show that they are "full of shit". In the last scene, a security guard (Neil Stephens), shown as a priest of the Russian orthodox church, is shown "blessing" someone (Jordan Reed) with a cross made of a baton.

Critical reception

In response to the song,

Iosif Prigozhin Iosif Igorevich Prigozhin (born 2 April 1969) is а Russian music producer. He has produced for the singers Valeria, Natalia Vetlitskaya, Vakhtang Kikabidze, Nikolai Noskov, Aleksandr Marshal, Avraam Russo, Kristina Orbakaitė, Didulya and ...

, a Russian music producer, called for the revocation of the citizenship of the members of Little Big, stating that "people who are poorly educated have moved to the United States, hinking that it's‘the most peaceful state in the world,’ and they are trying to talk about

pacifism Pacifism is the opposition to war or violence. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaigner Émile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress in Glasgow in 1901. A related term is ...

through their videos. eanwhile I'm not afraid of this word." He later claimed that "the West is engaged in the

genocide Genocide is violence that targets individuals because of their membership of a group and aims at the destruction of a people. Raphael Lemkin, who first coined the term, defined genocide as "the destruction of a nation or of an ethnic group" by ...

of our people."

References

{{2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine 2022 songs 2022 singles Little Big (band) songs Songs about the Russian invasion of Ukraine