Here’s What Happened at Kanye West and Drake’s Free Larry Hoover Benefit Concert
Larry Hoover is not getting out of prison. The former leader of Chicago’s Gangster Disciples is currently serving multiple life sentences at ADX Florence, one of the most psychologically punishing correctional facilities in the world. After being convicted in 1997 of running the Gangster Disciples from his cell in Illinois state prison—where he was incarcerated on a 200-year sentence for ordering a 1973 murder—he now spends 23 hours of each day in solitary confinement. In order to be released, he would need both a presidential pardon (of which President Joseph R. Biden Jr. has so far issued zero) and a gubernatorial pardon, as he has convictions at both the state and federal level.
Kanye West (now legally known as Ye) and Drake’s “Free Larry Hoover Benefit Concert,” an Amazon-sponsored event broadcast live on all three of its streaming platforms, didn’t spend much time freeing Larry Hoover. Or even mentioning him, really. The most direct discussion of his incarceration came off-camera, before the show had started, caught by an ambient mic. A woman pleaded with the crowd for empathy:
If you didn’t catch it live, you missed it—it’s not part of the on-demand video. Perhaps it was by request. Earlier this week, Hoover’s son relayed his father’s concerns about the publicity potentially harming his chances for a pardon. The commerce may have spoke loudest: Balenciaga T-shirts ($100), hoodies ($200), and jeans ($400) emblazoned with “FREE LARRY HOOVER.” Both Ye and Drake modeled the merch from the stage, though Drake added his own pinch of patois with his custom “Free the Mandem” hoodie.
The show itself, a celebration of the end of Ye and Drake’s beef, was indeed a spectacle. TMZ reports the budget was more than $10 million, with hundreds of workers preparing the Coliseum for the event, which centered on a massive ceremonial mound. It began with lights beaming through the fog, the Sunday Service Choir dressed in black descending the Coliseum steps. Choir director Jason White followed. Their warmup set was part sermon, part halftime show; they reworked popular hits like “Ready or Not” and “Easy on Me” before anointing the steps for Ye and Drake’s arrival with “Ultralight Beam.”
Drake looked positively giddy approaching the mound, Ye’s arm slung over his shoulder. He would later tell the crowd how grateful he was for the privilege: “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.”
And the run was impressive: Ye ripped through hit after hit from his catalog, unearthing songs few expected to hear from the born-again gospel Grammy-winner. After tearing through more than a dozen hits from College Dropout through 808s and Heartbreak (self-censoring most of his early work’s vulgarities), he covered Drake’s “Find Your Love” while Drake did this.
He eventually ceded the stage to his Canadian contemporary, who proceeded to cover Ye’s Donda track “24,” telling the audience, “I need me some Jesus in my life” (a nod to his own “Wants and Needs” lyric). Rather than attempt to Verzuz Ye by pulling out his biggest hits, Drake trotted out more recent fare, such as “No Friends in the Industry,” “Life is Good,” and “Way 2 Sexy.”
When Ye reclaimed the stage for a run that included “Father Stretch My Hands Pt 1,” “N----s in Paris,” and “Bound 2,” he prodded his music director Mike Dean, who was performing portions of the tracks live. “Mike, keep ’em comin’,” he urged. “Gimme pianos, Mike! I wanna hear the choir.” The choir returned for “Father Stretch My Hands,” and generally sounded incredible all night. Ye, too, seemed to be in control of his breath, while Drake apparently needed the assistance of the backing track on his hooks. Dean’s live improvisation added some character to the classics but seemed overly favored in the mix, drowning out the rest of the production.
The pair closed out the show with a rendition of “Forever” (minus guests Lil Wayne and Eminem), before waltzing off stage together amid a swarm of camera operators that emerged from the shadows—just a handful of the dozens that captured the show. As the credits rolled, it was unclear how the event advanced the cause of freeing Larry Hoover. They never attempted to even make a case for it.
What is clear is that lots of people said the name “Larry Hoover” over the past week, many more than already deify him in his hometown of Chicago for the positive work he did in his community, in parallel to helming a multi-million dollar narcotics operation. Maybe more people will learn about how the Gangster Disciples used those drug profits to support a community abandoned by its government, funding neighborhood cleanups, voting registration drives, and food distribution programs. At trial, even Ronald S. Safer, the Assistant United States Attorney prosecuting him, admitted in his opening that the gang offered more than mere violence: “This is not a group of street thugs. This is in a very real sense an outlaw form of government.”
No matter how the event ultimately ends up serving Hoover, several organizations, including Ex-Cons for Community and Social Change, Hustle 2.0, and the Uptown People’s Law Center, stand to benefit from whatever funds remain after the bills from the 8-figure production budget are paid—perhaps offering hope to incarcerated people with less influence and fewer famous friends than Larry Hoover.
“Free Larry Hoover Benefit Concert” setlist:
Choir:
“O Fortuna”
“Ready or Not” (Fugees)
“Easy on Me” (Adele)
“Back to Life” (Soul 2 Soul)
“Ultralight Beam”
Ye:
“Jesus Walks”
“All Falls Down”
“Gold Digger”
“Touch the Sky”
“Stronger”
“All of the Lights”
“Black Skinhead”
“All Day”
“Mercy”
“Good Life”
“Flashing Lights”
“Say You Will”
“I Wonder”
“Find Your Love” (Drake)
“Runaway”
Ye & Drake:
“Can’t Tell Me Nothing”
Drake:
“24” (Kanye West)
“Wants and Needs”
“No Friends in the Industry”
“What’s Next”
“Life is Good”
“IMY2”
“Laugh Now Cry Later”
“Girls Want Girls”
“In the Bible”
“Way 2 Sexy”
“Knife Talk”
“God’s Plan”
Ye:
“Hurricane”
“Father Stretch My Hands Pt 1” [ft. Sunday Service Choir]
“N----s in Paris”
“Bound 2”
“Come to Life”
Ye & Drake:
“Forever”
Here’s What Happened at Kanye West and Drake’s Free Larry Hoover Benefit Concert - Pitchfork
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