After putting their beef behind them, Kanye West and Drake took to the stage together on Thursday night for the Free Larry Hoover Benefit Concert, a joint performance aimed at helping free former Chicago gang leader Larry Hoover.
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Currently in one of the most secure prisons in the U.S. spending 23 hours a day in solitary confinement, Hoover has been behind bars for more than five decades out of a a 200-year sentence for his involvement in crimes such as gang-affiliated murder.
The Amazon-sponsored event, broadcast live on all three of its streaming platforms, surprisingly enough didn’t spend much time mentioned the freeing Hoover, or for that matter even really mentioning him at all. Aside from an off- camera plea of empathy from a woman, heard saying, “Larry Hoover was a man who made a mistake. When one person goes to prison, their entire family goes with them. Take out of your mind everything that you have read.”
That being said, Kanye (now legally known as Ye) and Drake opted to show their support through visual representation. Modeling some pricey Balenciaga merch (that is of course also available for public purchase), Including t-shirts, hoodies, and jeans embellished with the words “FREE LARRY HOOVER,” priced between $100-$400.
As for the concert itself, with a reported budget of more than $10 million, it was indeed an all-out spectacle. Starting off with lights beaming through the fog, Ye’s Sunday Service Choir dressed in black descended the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum steps, as Choir director Jason White followed. Their warmup set was part sermon, part halftime show, with the choir putting their special spin on “Ready or Not” and “Easy on Me” before Ye and Drake descended the steps during “Ultralight Beam.”
With Ye completely in his element, Drake was clearly happy to be on stage with his fellow superstar, even when he was just enjoying the set on the sidelines. Telling the audience, "when we were walking through the archway it felt surreal, to be on stage with one of my idols as he runs though his catalog.”
Throughout the performance both performed solo sets, as well as joining forces on "Can't Tell Me Nothing" and set closer “Forever.”
And while Hoover was seldom, if barely mentioned, Ye did dedicated one track to a particular person. Any guesses? Yup Mrs. Kimberly Kardashian (for the meantime still) West. Seizing the moment to sing directly to his estranged wife, Ye switched up the lyrics to his 2010 hit “Runaway” to give a special shout-out to his ex. After consecutively belting out "I need you to run right back to me,” in the outro, Ye added the words - “More specifically, Kimberly.”
Serving as a direct plea to KKW alum, who was in attendance. And while there was no award show type cut to for her reaction, the ad-lib received a notably loud reaction from the crowd. Wonder what Pete Davidson thinks about it?
Anyway, here’s a video of Drake jamming out to Ye performing his track “Find Your Love”, and a pic of the two recently re-established friends hugging back stage.
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