The rapper formerly known as Kanye West is scheduled to headline a benefit concert at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Thursday night seeking to raise awareness and support for an imprisoned Chicago gang leader and prison and sentencing reform.
Drake will make a special guest appearance at the “Free Larry Hoover Benefit Concert,” which would be the first stadium performance in five years for the rapper now known as Ye.
“I believe this event will not only bring awareness to our cause but prove to people everywhere how much more we can accomplish when we lay our pride aside and come together,” Ye said.
The concert featuring the formerly feuding rappers was facilitated by music executive and promoter J Prince, who introduced Drake to Lil Wayne and helped him get signed to Lil Wayne’s Young Money Entertainment in 2009.
The concert will be live-streamed free on Prime Video, on the Amazon Music app and the Amazon Music Twitch channel. It will also be available on demand on Prime Video following the live event. The concert will also be shown in select IMAX theaters nationwide.
According to organizers, the event is aimed at raising awareness “of the need for prison and sentencing reform,” and will benefit organizations including Ex-Cons for Community and Social Change, Hustle 2.0 and Uptown People’s Law Center.
Kanye West dedicated the latest installment of his Sunday service to his late friend Virgil Abloh, an artistic director at Louis Vuitton and Off White’s CEO, who was a longstanding collaborator of the rapper.
Hoover was convicted for ordering the 1973 killing of 19-year old neighborhood drug dealer William “Pooky” Young and sentenced to 150 to 200 years in state prison. In 1997, Hoover was convicted of federal drug conspiracy, extortion, and continuing to engage in a criminal enterprise charges and sentenced to six life sentences.
“With Ye, Drake, and J Prince united to advocate for my father’s release, we can take our plea for redemption worldwide and show that we are truly stronger together on behalf of any and everyone with a loved one wrongly or unjustly incarcerated,” said Larry Hoover Jr., a son of the inmate.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michelle Williams Court approved West’s name change Oct. 18. Ye said he was making the change for personal reasons.
