1/ Kenye West's upcoming concerts in St Petersburg have already sold 100,000 tickets in only 2 days. However, Russian bloggers are unhappy about what they see as Western 'cultural imperialism' and Russian decadence, particularly against the backdrop of the Ukraine war. ⬇️
2/ The two shows are due to be held on 10 and 11 October 2026. According to Say Agency representatives, they have already sold over 100,000 tickets within 48 hours of sales opening, with a surge in demand for train tickets as well. Concert tickets cost from between €90-€1,600. 3/ Kanye is being preceded by Miami-based rapper Lil' Pump, who played in Moscow last night. 'Visionary Channel' explains why the American rappers are still so popular in Russia despite America's support for Ukraine: 4/ "Like the infamous Kanye West concert and the new Spider-Man, he represents American symbols of a short "golden age," a recent, prosperous, and peaceful past of Russia, integrated into the "American" circle of comfortable life [before the war]. 5/ "Many people want to relive, or rather, forget and believe in the possibility of the impossible – a return to that life." In contrast, Russian propagandists and nationalists are strongly critical of the decision to allow the two rappers to perform in Russia. 6/ This hostility has been visible on Russian television as well as blogs. A leading talk show host, Andrei Norkin, has even suggested giving drugs to American rappers who come to Moscow, so that they could be exchanged for spies. 7/ Yuri Baranchik calls it "the ultimate absurdity [that] certain individuals are inviting a neo-Nazi rapper, who openly praises Hitler, to the country that suffered the most from Nazism in the 20th century and continues to bear the burden of fighting it." 8/ Yuri Dogoruk is scathing, comparing Russians to the backward native inhabitants of some isolated Pacific island reacting to the presence of Western visitors:
9/ "[T]he story surrounding West's upcoming visit evokes a feeling of shame and awkwardness, which arises every time we see ourselves, with our garlands of cowrie shells, rushing to decorate yet another white person on our native land (sorry for this ambiguous pun). 10/ "Whatever is said about Kanye now, a very clear message is conveyed: this is an EVENT. A visit with a capital letter. And it's always like that with famous foreigners. And sometimes, just with foreigners. Depardieu? Should we give him housing and a passport? 11/ "A BMW designer received Russian citizenship? This will be at the top of the news for the next two days. Are there few guests at the St. Petersburg forum? Well, at least the Tate brothers, those rapists, came to us! And Elon [sic, actually Errol] Musk, is he some kind of joke to you? 12/ "And these enthusiasms, which have been with us since the time of Peter the Great, probably, completely expose us. We talk so much about our own uniqueness, about the need for an individual path, about our fundamental, existential contradiction with the West. 13/ "And then an American rapper comes to us, and for us, it's again an EVENT. A visit with a capital letter." Pavel Kuchmirov is even more harshly critical: 14/ "Looking at the capital's frenzy over the arrival of the aging American rapper, one inevitably thinks of slaves awaiting the arrival of their "white master." Not even a "lord," but precisely that. And the fact that the "master" isn't white in this case is irrelevant. 15/ "And unfortunately, this is not surprising. Because this is not the first, or even the tenth, such case. Let's remember how they welcomed, say, Tucker Carlson. What a servile, slave-like enthusiasm it was... 16/ "And what about the recent incident with the arrival of individuals [i.e. the Tates] at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum who were being sought in their home country for pedophilia and human trafficking? 17/ "And how they were greeted with the same disgusting enthusiasm at the airport and then shown on national television. Well, how else could it be? A whole American has arrived! Hooray! And now it's even reaching this point. 18/ "But Kanye West ... is being allowed in simply because he agreed to come. To condescend, as it were, to the "white Papuans." With all due respect to the people of Papua New Guinea. 19/ "And tickets to see him now cost more than Kanye West himself would have cost 150 years ago, in the place where he came from." 20/ Anna Shafran complains: "This is happening at a time when more and more information is emerging that most of the Ukrainian Armed Forces' strikes on our infrastructure were organised and guided by Americans." 21/ "I sincerely hope that those who need to intervene will do so, and that this disgrace will not happen." 22/ Some parts of the Russian government apparatus almost certainly share such views. The independent Russian outlet Vot Tak reports that the All-Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VTsIOM) has been conducting a survey on public attitudes toward Kanye West and his concerts. 23/ A reader from Moscow says that she was asked if she knew about Kanye's visit and how she felt about the artist, his pro-Nazi statements, and whether she knew that he later recanted them. 24/ She was also asked whether she planned to attend the concert, whether she'd be upset if it were cancelled, and how she'd feel if another artist performed in West's place. 25/ "From all that questioning—about my feelings about Kanye West, his views, what I think of his concert, and whether I'd be upset if it were canceled—I got the impression they were actually planning to cancel the concert or offer another artist to perform in his place," she says. 26/ This is not the first time there has been speculation over a possible ban on the concert; when it was announced, observers noticed that there was a clause in the tickets' contract suggesting that an alternative artist might appear if Kanye did not attend. 27/ On the other hand, Victor Stepanych suggests, Kanye might have his uses if he did enter Russia: "There is a theory that Kanye West could be detained upon arrival in Russia for promoting Nazism. Then we can exchange him for something useful." /end Sources: 🔹 t.me 🔹 t.me 🔹 t.me 🔹 t.me 🔹 t.me 🔹 t.me 🔹 vot-tak.tv 🔹 t.me