Even over a holiday weekend when all he’s doing is providing wedding entertainment, Kanye West can’t avoid controversy.
On Saturday, the “Yeezus” rapper played the wedding of Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s grandson, reports TMZ.
The controversial Nazarbayev is the only president in the country’s history, having taken the reigns in 1991 when the Central Asian nation claimed its independence from the Soviet Union.
In the two decades since, he’s amassed a personal fortune of billions and also been dogged by allegations of corruption.
Regardless of Nazarbayev’s reputation, West made his way to the Hotel Royal Tulip in country’s capitol of Almaty for the performance. The crowd may have been the smallest the rapper has played to in years, but the pay day certainly wasn’t seeing as West made a reported $3 million.
The Kazakhstan president has shown an interest in western pop music before. In 2011 he tried to bring in Sting for a concert. The former Police-front man eventually pulled out of the show, citing the country’s human rights violations.
“Hunger strikes, imprisoned workers and tens of thousands on strike represents a virtual picket line which I have no intention of crossing,” the singer said at the time.