Kanye West Announces Benefit Concert

Los Angeles, CA. (Top40 Charts/ Roc-A-Fella Records) - Kanye West, six-time Grammy winner and Chicago native, will host his foundation's Inaugural Benefit Concert and VIP Reception/Party August 24, 2007 in Chicago, his hometown. The concert is at the House of Blues; the VIP Reception and a silent auction, featuring Kanye memorabilia, will occur at Hotel Sax, one of the event's sponsors. Kanye will perform a full concert and will be joined on stage by surprise celebrity guests.
Fans attending will be the first to see and hear tracks from his highly anticipated new album, Graduation, and will enjoy a sneak peak of his upcoming Glow In The Dark tour, launching this fall. The concert and line up of related attractions carry a theme that encourages youth to stay in school and marks the first of many Kanye West Foundation fundraising events.

'Kanye is committed to excellence through education and established 'Loop Dreams' as the first and signature initiative of his foundation,' says his mother, Dr. Donda West, board chair. Headquartered in Los Angeles, plans are to launch the Loop Dreams Teacher Training Institute in Chicago, Spring 2008. The institute will provide training for Chicago Public Schools teachers interested in using hip hop across the curriculum to increase literacy and motivate youth to stay in school and graduate. The program is named after 'Loops,' a fundamental music production technique created when a sample is played repeatedly. The program capitalizes on students' existing interest in music by teaching them about music/production in a structured, academic setting.

Prior to the evening's festivities, approximately two hundred youth, from a wide range of backgrounds, will attend a Pre-Show Sound Check Bash. They will have a behind-the-scenes glance at how Kanye prepares for his shows.

The evening will also include a tribute to John Rogers, Founder and CEO of Ariel Capital Management, LLC. Concert proceeds will benefit the Kanye West Foundation and the Kanye West Scholarship Fund at Chicago State University. For further information, contact Patricia Green, WPG Marketing & Communications, at 301. 526.1089.