Kanye West’s “listening party” promoting his latest album release at Soldier Field last week featured a full-sized replica of his South Shore childhood home on the 50-yard line. His original plan was even more ambitious.
City officials denied the rapper’s request to move the actual building he lived in as a child, located at 7815 S. South Shore Drive, and install it in the stadium, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
Kanye West’s childhood home at 7815 S. South Shore Drive (Google Maps)
“Moving a home in Chicago is a very technical process that requires structural engineer reports and multiple city permits,” a buildings department official told the Sun-Times, noting that the city did not receive a permit application to excavate and move the structure.
West ultimately decided to have a replica of the home constructed inside Soldier Field, with a beaming cross installed atop the building.
The performance was a part of West’s “listening tour,” where he plays his new album, titled “Donda” after his late mother. Part of the show featured dancers dressed in SWAT gear and trucks continuously circling the replica house.
West reportedly purchased the home in April 2020 for $225,000 with plans to renovate it, though the official who spoke to the Sun-Times told the publication the now-vacant building is currently in demolition court.
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[Chicago Sun Times] — Victoria Pruitt