As news emerged that Kanye West was in Moscow on Sunday, the Russian-speaking internet erupted in a flurry of memes.
The rapper, who arrived in Moscow for a day-long trip to celebrate fashion designer Gosha Rubchinsky's birthday, appears to be the first major Western music star to visit Russia since the invasion of Ukraine.
Here are some of the most entertaining memes that circulated:
Russian grandmothers are famous for saving their finest tableware for special occasions. One meme joked: “Take it out. Kanye West came to visit us.”
Another meme featured Kanye and U.S. conservative pundit Tucker Carlson, who also recently visited Moscow to interview President Vladimir Putin.
One meme also referred to Carlson’s praise for Moscow's grocery stores, saying that “Kanye West, starving in the USA, flew to buy the best food in the world.”
The Stradayushhee Srednevekovye (Medieval Suffering) account, which posts memes based on medieval paintings, captures the sentiment of some Russians who claim to be against Western influence but welcomed the American rapper’s unexpected arrival.
"We don't need your Western values at all. Just get out of here and take all Western things with you.” / “KANYE WEST!"
One video shows Kanye West and his wife Bianca Censori — who did not appear to have traveled with him to Moscow — photoshopped into typical Russian urban settings.
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