Ye (Kanye West) sold 100,000 tickets to two St. Petersburg stadium shows in two days. Now a Russian lawmaker wants the concerts canceled unless he declares ‘moral support’ for the war on Ukraine.

On October 10 and 11, American rapper Ye (Kanye West) will perform at Gazprom Arena in St. Petersburg. Organizers say they have sold more than 100,000 tickets in the first two days. And the hype shows no sign of fading: lawmakers in the State Duma (Russia’s lower house of parliament), public figures, and, of course, social media users are all discussing Ye’s visit. Meduza rounded up the biggest news, rumors, and memes about the rapper’s concerts in Russia.

Earlier this week, State Duma deputy Vitaly Milonov suggested that Ye add Russian chanson — a genre of sentimental ballads steeped in prison folklore — to his repertoire. Milonov said the rapper could perform songs by Mikhail Krug or sing a duet with Mikhail Shufutinsky while in St. Petersburg. Such a move, Milonov said, would help Ye become a “normal person.”

The saga then took a turn: on August 18, reports began circulating on social media that the rapper wanted to perform with Shaman, the pro-war Russian singer. Concert organizers had supposedly approached the singer’s booking manager with the request, and, judging by a screenshot of the exchange, Shaman turned it down. The organizers, for their part, denied that any such talks took place

Social media users think the duet could be a hit, hinting that Ye — who has publicly professed admiration for Hitler and the Nazis — has plenty in common with Shaman.

Sergei Shnurov, the frontman of the band Leningrad, has also angled for a chance to perform with Ye. But so far, no invitation has come.

Other collaboration ideas are floating around, too. The promotional blitz for the film The Last Warrior. Kolobok has been hard to miss in Russia. And social media users have a suggestion to boost its box-office performance.

Others suggest branding the entire stage — or at least adding a bit of local flavor. Russian authorities, though, appear to have their own plans for the venue.

Either way, the priority is avoiding another round of internet outages — and the American performer had better not turn on a VPN either, just in case.

Lawmakers in the State Duma have yet to make up their minds about the controversial performer’s visit. Yelena Drapeko of A Just Russia, for one, believes the concerts should go ahead, and even publicly thanked the rapper for agreeing to come “amid anti-Russian hysteria.” Svetlana Zhurova of United Russia has gone further, floating the idea of a meeting between Ye and Russian President Vladimir Putin — though Ye would first have to take a COVID-19 test.

Anna Subcheva, who heads Say Agency, the company organizing the event, said meeting Putin has long been Ye’s dream. She said Ye has voiced admiration for the Russian president “for several years now.” What the rapper actually dreams of is anyone’s guess, but he did once call himself a “young Putin.”

Nikolai Novichkov of A Just Russia said earlier that he would push to cancel the concerts if Ye failed to declare “moral support” for the SVO — the Kremlin’s shorthand for the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which it calls a ”special military operation.” Ildar Rezyapov, head of the Veterans of Russia movement, called for part of the concert proceeds to go to Russian troops. Yekaterina Mizulina, head of the Safe Internet League, and several Orthodox priests have also objected to the visit.

Social media users are joking that the authorities themselves don’t fully grasp whom they’ve invited to Russia. They’re also offering some distinctly peculiar ways to “support the war.”

Meanwhile, the rapper’s Russian fans are already imagining how they’ll welcome him. A guest like this, they joke, calls for the good china — and a city scrubbed clean for the occasion.

Others propose renaming the Leningrad region outright in recognition of Ye’s talent.

Ye’s visit has even shaken up the rental housing market. The Russian business outlet RBC reported that demand for short-term rentals has risen at least sevenfold — or 16-fold, by other estimates. Demand for train tickets on the concert dates has jumped 41-fold. One thing worth remembering: a 160,000-ruble ticket in the VIP boxes buys one seat, not the whole box for a group of friends.