Kanye West is taking his music to Russia after being banned from the UK and having shows axed elsewhere in Europe. The 49-year-old rapper's career has been marred in controversy, most notably by his antisemitic public outbursts, which he apologized for in January. He's now slated to become the biggest Western artist to perform in Russia since the country's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Tickets to West's October 10 and 11 shows at St. Petersburg’s Gazprom Arena sold out on Monday, according to The Guardian. The priciest tickets cost more than $1,850, while the lowest were $105. Earlier this year, West secured a full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal, which he used to apologize for his prior peddling of Nazi paraphernalia and rhetoric against Jewish people. The former husband of Kim Kardashian, with whom he shares four children, attributed his behavior to his well-documented 2002 car accident and renounced past expressions of admiration for Adolf Hitler. West alleged he sustained a brain injury during the accident that went 'unnoticed' at the time, with the 'medical oversight' sparking his bipolar disorder.

He said the illness 'detached' him from his 'true self' and drew him 'toward the most destructive symbol I could find, the swastika.' The advertisement, paid for by Yeezy and authored by West, was headlined 'To Those I've Hurt' and described how, after 'hitting rock bottom,' he sought help at the encouragement of his wife, Bianca Censori. His remorse, however, was not enough to keep his shows from being cancelled in April. Summer shows planned in Poland were nixed in April, with stadium director Adam Strzyzewski writing on Facebook: 'We would like to inform you that the Ye (Kanye West) concert planned for June 19, 2026, at the... Slaski stadium will not take place due to formal and legal reasons.'

Also in April, West cancelled a concert slated to take place in Marseilles, France after significant resistance from government officials. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said he was 'highly determined' and exploring 'all options' to ban the rapper's only concert in France this summer, a source close to the minister told AFP. Earlier this year, Marseille's socialist mayor Benoît Payan declared that the Gold Digger hitmaker was 'not welcome' in Marseille, stating on social media: 'I refuse to let Marseille be a showcase for those who promote hatred and unabashed Nazism.' That same month, the UK's Home Office banned the rapper from flying to the country for a headline appearance at London's Wireless Festival in July.

But West has since thrived elsewhere. He has performed in the United States and Mexico City this year, and a May 30 concert in Istanbul drew a reported 118,000 attendees. Meanwhile, a June 12 show at the Dinamo Arena in Tbilisi, Georgia, attracted 70,000 concertgoers. He went on to perform a sold-out show in Almaty, Kazakhstan this past Saturday, where he captivated an audience of 30,000. The Guardian reported that, ahead of West's upcoming Russia shows, the politician Nikolay Novichkov has called for an investigation into his previous comments praising Hitler. Novichkov reportedly told Russian outlet Ostorozhno Novosti that the dates should be cancelled unless West publicly expresses 'moral support for Russia and the special military operation.'