Kanye West Invites Drake To Squash Beef, Play Free Larry Hoover Concert In LA
Brandon Magnus/Getty Images
In recent months, surrounding the releases of their albums Donda and Certified Lover Boy, Kanye West and Drake have been sniping back and forth at each other. West posed text conversations with Drake and also Drake’s home address. Drake leaked West’s song “Life Of The Party.” But West recently complimented Drake’s artistry in his recent appearance on NORE’s Drink Champs podcast. And now West has teamed up with a Drake mentor to invite Drake to end their little mini-feud and join forces for a common cause.
Last night, Kanye West posted an Instagram video of himself standing next to J Prince, one of the most feared and respected behind-the-scenes figures in rap music. Prince founded the Houston label Rap-A-Lot Records in 1987, and his son Jas Prince discovered Drake on MySpace in 2006, helping bring Drake to Cash Money Records soon afterwards. Later on, Prince claimed that he had something to do with ending the Drake/Pusha T beef. According to Prince’s own Instagram, he met with Kanye West last night at the Rothko Chapel in Houston. They discussed plans for a Free Larry Hoover concert in Los Angeles.
Larry Hoover, the former Chicago gang leader, is currently serving six life sentences for murder. He’s been in prison since 1973, but most of those sentences have been in the years since, when Hoover was convicted with carrying out further criminal activities while incarcerated. Hoover’s son Larry Hoover, Jr. spoke on West’s album Donda. Three years ago, when Kanye West visited Donald Trump at the White House, he talked about Hoover’s case, and he discussed plans to open a factory called Larry’s in Chicago.
In his Instragram video, Kanye West reads from a cell phone screen in a detached voice:
I’m making this video to address the ongoing back-and-forth between myself and Drake. Both me and Drake have taken shots at each other, and it’s time to put it to rest. I’m asking Drake, on December 7, to join me onstage as a special guest to share the two biggest albums of the year live in Los Angeles, with the ultimate purpose being to free Larry Hoover. 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 to the side and come together.
Drake is currently being sued for his special-guest appearance at Travis Scott’s Astroworld Festival this past weekend. Drake came out onstage during Travis Scott’s set. During that same set, a massive crowd crush left eight people dead and many more injured. In an Instagram post last night, Drake made his first post-Astroworld public statement, writing, “My heart is broken for the families and friends of those who lost their lives and for anyone who is suffering.”
