"Free my father, Larry Hoover Sr" on Kanye West's Donda album explained

Kanye West returned to the Mercedes-Benz stadium in Atlanta for a second time yesterday (Thursday, 5 August) to share his highly anticipated album, Donda. Fans went online to discuss Larry Hoover Jr as they heard him speak out about his father’s imprisonment on one of the album tracks. Let’s find out more.

Larry Hoover Jr features on Kanye West’s Donda

Kanye West gave a sneak reveal of some of the tracks on Donda last month as he hosted a listening party at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia.

The rapper returned to the venue yesterday (Thursday, 5 August) to host a second listening party, where fans heard more of the album.

Fans spotted one of the tracks features a recorded message by Larry Hoover Jr, son of Larry Hoover Sr, who is serving six life sentences in prison for his involvement with notorious Chicago gang the Gangster Disciples.

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What did Larry Hoover Jr say?

As reported by E! News, Larry Hoover Jr says over the top of one of Kanye’s tracks: “Free my father, Mr Larry Hoover Sr.”

Larry Hoover Jr is also reported to have thanked Kanye West for bringing his father’s case to the attention of former president Donald Trump.

The rapper met with the 45th president of the United States in 2018 and, as reported by the Chicago Sun-Times, is said to have asked Trump to “commute” the sentence of Larry Hoover Sr.

Fans react to Larry Hoover Jr feature on Twitter

As fans caught up with the rapper’s listening party, some took to Twitter as they reacted to Larry Hoover Jr’s emotional feature on the album:

What did Larry Hoover Sr do?

The Chicago Tribune reports Gangster Disciples chairman Larry Hoover Sr was convicted in federal court 20 years ago of continuing to run his criminal empire from jail despite serving a 200-year sentence in state prison for murder.

Hoover, 70, has been serving six life terms at the supermax federal prison in Florence, Colorado.

Amber Peake

Amber is a freelance writer on The Focus who mainly covers anything celeb, music, and entertainment related. Having graduated with a BA (Hons) in Journalism from Brunel University in 2020, she has spent the last two years reporting the latest celeb news and pop culture trends across leading and national publishers. Starting her career at Express.co.uk as a showbiz reporter, Amber began contributing on The Focus in 2021. As well as her work on the site, she has also written across other GRV Media publications, including both Reality Titbit and HITC. When she's not scrolling endlessly on TikTok, you'll find Amber wrapped up in yet another DIY crafting project.