Posted by Kanye West and Drake‘s cold war reignited in the run up to their respective albums, Donda and Certified Lover Boy, this past summer.
In a high-profile feud marked by some of the pettiest moves ever seen in a rap beef, Kanye declared war on Drake over text, doxxed his home address and spammed his backyard of Toronto with Donda billboards. Meanwhile, the 6 God unloaded a flurry of lyrical shots at Ye while leaking an unreleased André 3000 collaboration from his vault.
Earlier this week, however, Kanye West attempted to bury the hatchet with Drake. In a video posted by Rap-A-Lot Records founder J. Prince on Monday (November 8), Kanye read a statement from his phone inviting his “Glow” collaborator to perform with him at a concert on December 7 to help free Gangster Disciples co-founder Larry Hoover from prison.
Prince revealed last month that Kanye West and Drake had both pledged their support to Larry Hoover, despite their differences.
“Both me and Drake have taken shots at each other and it’s time to put it to rest,” Kanye said in the clip. “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.”
I met with @kanyewest night in Htown at the Rothko Chapel. It wasn’t in my plans to meet him there but I must say I’m glad I didn’t allow a worship place for God to detour our meeting. pic.twitter.com/GM9FIN80Uj
— J Prince (@jprincerespect) November 8, 2021
Now, Larry Hoover’s son, Larry Hoover Jr., has come forward urging Drake to accept Kanye West’s peace concert offering in the fight for his father’s freedom.
“Drake, you a leader and leaders make decisions that people follow,” he said in a video posted by TMZ on Wednesday (November 10). “Man, this would be big. This is like Michael Jackson and Prince … Come together, put whatever y’all differences are down … Let’s be bigger than that.”
“[The concert] is also to pass the message that [my father] qualifies to come home as far as the First Step Act is concerned,” he added. “People are concerned about what he might do, but this is the type of things that he can do — he can bring people together, he can hopefully bring a lot of peace to our community.”
Hoover Jr. admitted the proposed concert is still a work in progress, but he’s optimistic the Hip Hop heavyweights will put their differences aside and confirm their plans to perform together in the coming days.
“I would appreciate it and my father would appreciate it,” he added. “Me and my mother spoke with Drake and he was saying that he is willing to extend the hand and help out however he can. The concert thing, we still working on that.
“Mr. Prince is dealing with Drake and speaking with him directly, so he would have to pretty much pass the information on for that as far as him coming all the way in. But hopefully in a few days it’s looking good, it’s looking like he should be moving forward to maybe take part in this whole thing.”
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Larry Hoover has been behind bars since 1973 when he was convicted of killing 19-year-old drug dealer William “Pooky” Young. 22 years later, he was slapped with additional charges of conspiracy, extortion and money laundering following a long-running investigation into his alleged criminal enterprise.
In 1997, he was found guilty on all charges and sentenced to six life sentences, a punishment many deemed excessive. Hoover Jr. believes his father has served his time and deserves to be released.
Kanye West Calls For An End To Drake Beef With J Prince By His Side
Kanye West has supported Larry Hoover’s release since 2018, when he met with President Donald Trump at the White House to negotiate his pardon, among other things. He featured Larry Hoover Jr. on his latest album Donda, with “Jesus Lord” closing with a heartfelt outro about his father’s fight for freedom.
“Donda helped show people that my father is a human being,” Hoover Jr. told TMZ. “They look at my father as Larry Hoover the gangster and all the negative activity that they put around his name and that the media put there; Donda was my first opportunity to give my narrative and let people see him as a person and know who he is.”