Nearly a year after it was announced Kanye West’s Chicago childhood home would be converted into a children’s community center, the ramshackle house now sits abandoned and littered with trash, DailyMail.com can reveal.
The rapper’s charity, Donda’s House – named after his late mother – bought the home last November with plans to turn the building into a community arts ‘incubator’ for at-risk youths.
Co-founder and childhood friend, rapper Rhymefest, revealed the house would serve as the non-profit’s headquarters, featuring a pioneering recording studio and museum, in the hope to inspire the next generation.
‘I’m excited to announce the purchase of Kanye’s childhood home as a community Arts incubator,’ he revealed 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 [museum].’
Kanye West’s childhood home in Chicago has been abandoned a year after the rapper’s charity announced its plans to convert the house into a community center
Kanye (pictured as child) has spoken about growing up in Chicago’s Southside before settling in the suburbs with his mother, founded a charity for at-risk youths called Donda’s House
At the time of his charity’s launch in 2013, West said: ‘My mom spent her life as an educator and I am happy that Donda’s House can pick up her torch and honor her life’s mission’ (Pictured with his mother Donda in an undated photo)
Ten months later, the home is barely inhabitable, surrounded by garbage and broken glass
Ten months later, the home is barely inhabitable, surrounded by garbage, old fireworks, and broken glass.
In fact, it seems as if it has served as a hangout for drug addicts as paraphernalia associated with crack – tin foil and plastic bottles – was found strewn with trash.
The area is close to some of the most dangerous neighborhoods in the U.S., where gun crime has shot up and is averaging over one murder a day.
The house, situated in Chicago’s South Side, is in a terrible state with smashed glass covering the main doorway into the property, and the front door is locked with a flimsy padlock.
In an empty storage room with no door, spiders have spun webs blocking entry.
The main room in the front is virtually empty aside from what looks like a refrigerator door and an oak and glass cabinet. The front door’s security gate has been pulled down and is also stored in the room.
The back room, which could have been the rapper’s bedroom many years ago, now has leftover clothes from the previous owner, and a bed frame with a pair of old socks hanging from it.
An old firework is strew across the yard as well as pieces of paraphernalia associated with crack – tin foil and plastic bottles
The back bedroom, which could have been the rapper’s bedroom many years ago, now has leftover clothes from the previous owner, and a bed frame with a pair of old socks hanging from it. The ceiling is also covered with mold and cracked paint
The front door’s security gate has been removed and stored inside an empty room (left) while what seems like a refrigerator door lies across the floor alongside an oak cabinet
The place is in such disrepair that some windows have needed to be reinforced with perspex to stop people from entering the property, although there’s little that can be done with rotting wooden window frames.
When Donda’s House bought the property, Rhymefest explained what they hoped to achieve, stating 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 museum.
‘We want to show bright spots in communities that have been divested from, we know more Lights exist here, they just need to be activated.’
The charity was set up in 2013 by childhood friend Rhymefest and Kanye, in honor of his mother Donda, an English professor, who died in 2007 after complications from cosmetic surgery.
‘My mom spent her life as an educator and I am happy that Donda’s House can pick up her torch and honor her life’s mission,’ Kanye said at the time.
It claims to provide ‘unprecedented access and education from leading experts in the music, fashion, and entertainment industry to Chicago’s creative youth and young adults.’
It is unclear why the home is now abandoned.
The 40-year-old rapper, who is reportedly worth $145M, had a modest middle-class upbringing after moving to suburban Illinois (Pictured as a teen in his hometown)
The husband and father of two (pictured with wife Kim Kardashian) launched the charity initiative in a bid to nurture a new generation of musical greats
Apart from the dilapidated house, they have been as good as their word, with Rhymefest working tirelessly around the community with upcoming artists and hosting events.
According to the website, it’s organized festivals such as AAHH! Fest, in partnership with Common and the Common Ground Foundation, Peace on the Beach, and Teens in the Park (TIP) Fest.’
In May 2015, West donated $133,000 to the charity from the proceeds of one of his Louis Vuitton Foundation concert series, with Rhymefest claiming his friend was making a massive impact on Chicago’s youth, which was a ‘true tribute to his mother’s legacy.’
Chicago has seen a surge in crime in recent years. After a gruesome day last February, where seven people were shot dead including an eight-month pregnant woman, Donald Trump threatened to ‘call in the Feds’ and had referred to Chicago as ‘worse than almost any of the places in the Middle East.’
In an interview with the online publication AV Club, Rhymefest, real name Che Smith, told of the impact Donda had on his life, saying: ‘She brought all of his friends and treated us as her sons.
Rhymefest, pictured outside the home last year, announced the property would serve as the non-profit’s headquarters, featuring a pioneering recording studio and museum, in the hope to inspire the next generation
‘And when I would make raps as a young kid, and I’d be talking about how many people I shot, how many women I slept with, how much drugs I sold, she pulled me to the side and said: “Rhymefest, did you really sleep with that many women? I mean, I’m not judging. Did you really shoot that many people?”
‘And I said, ‘No, I’m just trying to get famous. That’s how you get on the radio. You got to talk about stuff you ain’t did, but it gives an image of who they believe you to be anyway.
‘She’s like, “But can you be that? Because you’re going to have to live in the lie you told on yourself.”
‘She activated who I am now. It was like she touched my forehead and brought the light out.’