Rhymefest Asks Drake to Help Rebuild Donda’s House Since He Claims Kanye West Won’t

Donda's House Inc., a non-profit organization started by Kanye West, Rhymefest and Donnie Smith in 2011 to honor 'Ye's late mother and help serve the youth of Chicago, is going through some things. According to 'Fest, the home the organization is housed in is in need of repair, but Kanye won't budge. Now, he's asking Drake for the paper.

On Friday (May 25), the organization released a statement on their current state, and it seems Kanye's recent controversies have caused major stress for DH. "Over the last few months due to Kanye’s statements and tweets, we have fielded requests for interviews and statements," part of the statement reads. "We have been tagged in comments on social media about Kanye West, and we have been questioned by our foundational supporters and corporate supporters about Kanye’s public involvement in our organization. While we cannot and do not speak for Kanye West and his views, we can and will speak up for the youth that we serve. We ask that those who feel hurt, angered by or frustrated with Kanye West not penalize or throw away their support, respect and advocacy for us."

They add, "We ask that as you boycott and protest Kanye West, that you not forget that we are a non-profit organization that like other non-profits needs donations, corporate support and volunteers. We do not want your rejection of Kanye West, to be a rejection of Dr. Donda West and the thousands of lives she impacted including her own son."

On Saturday (May 26), Rhymefest personally called out Kanye for allegedly refusing to help rebuild the home the organization uses to conduct its duties. "I’m asking @Drake to help the part of Chicago Kanye has Abandoned! Please contact @DondasHouse," he tweeted.

A follow-up tweet added context to why he singled out Drizzy. The OVO rapper recently invoiced G.O.O.D. Music for $100,000 for the "promotional assistance and career reviving" of Pusha T, following his "Duppy Freestyle" diss aimed at the Virginia rapper.

"@Drake when G.O.O.D. Music sends the money they owe you, will you please help us rebuild Kanye’s mothers house for the youth of Chicago," he stated.

He then made a startling revelation, if true. "I spoke to Kanye about it. His response was 'fuck the youth of Chicago,'" 'Fest added.

Rhymefest purchased Kanye's childhood home in 2016 in order to convert it into the official Donda's House. At the time, he was excited about the possibilities. "I'm excited to announce the purchase of Kanye's childhood home as a community Arts incubator," he wrote on Instagram. "It will be the first of our Nationwide Lite-Houses. A state of the art recording studio, a curriculum space for @dondashouse and southside music museam. We want to show bright spots in communities thatve been divested from."

Things done changed.

Read the Donda's House statement in full and Rhymefest's tweets below.

See Rhymefest's Tweets Asking for Drake's Assistance to Rebuild Donda's House

Our Statement regarding Kanye West & Donda's House: In December of 2011, Rhymefest, Donnie Smith and Kanye West came up with the idea to create Donda’s House Inc., a foundation to honor the life and legacy of Dr. Donda West by supporting Chicago’s young creatives. Kanye became one of our Founding Board Members, with Donnie Smith serving as the Executive Director and Rhymefest serving as the Creative Director. We decided to name the organization Donda’s House because of the impact that Dr. Donda West had on our Creative Director Rhymefest, her students at Chicago State University and the larger Chicago Community. It took us 2 years to determine what type of programming we’d do, where we could best serve and to explore the appropriate partnerships.

Within that time frame, Kanye supported the organization by designing the logo with his creative team, paying for legal support as we filed for exemption status and eventually through the Louis Vuitton Foundation, secured our largest donation to date of $133,000. In the last 5 years we have supported over 500 youth through our programs including “Got Bars” for young rappers and vocalists, our “Behind The Mic” program which has been supported by the physical presence of No ID, Big Sean, Big K.R.I.T. and others, and more.
Over the last few months due to Kanye’s statements and tweets, we have fielded requests for interviews and statements. We have been tagged in comments on social media about Kanye West, and we have been questioned by our foundational supporters and corporate supporters about Kanye’s public involvement in our organization. While we cannot and do not speak for Kanye West and his views, we can and will speak up for the youth that we serve. We ask that those who feel hurt, angered by or frustrated with Kanye West not penalize or throw away their support, respect and advocacy for us.

We ask that as you boycott and protest Kanye West, that you not forget that we are a non-profit organization that like other non-profits needs donations, corporate support and volunteers. We do not want your rejection of Kanye West, to be a rejection of Dr. Donda West and the thousands of lives she impacted including her own son. As we prepare to launch our summer programming, we have been bombarded with inquiries about Kanye West. As we seek support to convert Kanye’s childhood home into a recording studio, museum and learning space – we have been unable to secure the financial support of Kanye despite multiple attempts, and despite those early conversations about his plan of support and advocacy for the youth in our programs.

Dr. Donda West’s motto and our motto at Donda’s House is “share your truth,” so today, we are electing to do just that. If you would like to support Donda’s House and our mission of providing access to the arts you can make a contribution via Paypal here:https://www.paypal.com/us/fundraiser/charity/2301002. If you would like to volunteer, our next volunteer meeting is Saturday, June 2nd at 10:00 a.m. at Dyett High School for the Arts, click here: https://www.eventbrite.com/myevent?eid=46446970138. to RSVP. If you would like to offer words of encouragement or support, to our students, volunteers and/or staff you can contact us via e-mail at hello@dondashouseinc.org. In solidarity, we ask that you use the hashtag #supportdondashouse, and link to our website and social media. The youth are watching, and we want them to know that despite whatever their favorite celebrities are doing, or not doing, we are here for them and we will continue to serve and uplift them. Please visit http://bit.ly/dhmailinglist to join our mailing list.