Kanye West and Common have teamed up to help create more than 20,000 jobs for young people in Chicago, Fact reports.
Common’s Common Ground Foundation and West’s Donda’s House company have joined forces with local community organisation Chicago Urban League to help provide year-round opportunities for the city’s youth, with an annual music festival set to be held as a fundraiser.
“One of the biggest reasons our kids are going through what they’re going through is because of poverty,” said Common at a press conference to announce the collaboration. “I was doing an event in the neighbourhood and there were some kids from Englewood and I said, ‘Man, what do y’all really need? What’s gonna stop this?’ And they were like, ‘We need money. Man, if we could work.’ They want a chance.”
CEO of the Chicago Urban League, Andrea Zopp, explained: “It’s one thing to provide summer jobs for these kids, but we’re trying to provide year-round jobs.”
AAHH! FEST will run every year, taking place in the city’s Hyde Park between September 20-21 in 2014, and will help raise money for jobs and other programmes. The line-up for the event has yet to be announced.