Kanye West built a replica of his boyhood home for his show last week at Soldier Field because the city denied him permission to move the real thing.
The city’s Buildings Department explained it like this: “Moving a home in Chicago is a very technical process that requires structural engineer reports and multiple city permits. The request to move the house at 7815 S. South Shore Dr. was denied last week because no permit application had been received to excavate and move the vacant property which is also in Demolition Court.”
So Kanye fabricated the South Shore home, with the addition of a beaming cross on top, for the Chicago stop on his “listening tour,” in which he played his new album.
The album is named “Donda,” after his mother.
The home, plopped in the middle of the field, served as a dramatic centerpiece as dancers dressed in SWAT gear and a lineup of trucks continuously circled its perimeter at one point. To close out the show, West lit himself on fire (he was safely extinguished) and reenacted his wedding vows with a little help from Kim Kardashian, despite their pending divorce.
According to a WGN report from April of last year, West purchased the home where he lived from the time he was a toddler until he was 20 for about $225,000 with plans to renovate. It wasn’t immediately clear how the home, which has been empty and boarded up for several years, ended up in demolition court.
