U2 band leader Bono is giving Kanye West props. As a 60th birthday celebration, the singer is releasing letters to the artists of 60 songs he says he couldn’t have gotten through life without including an unforgettable Yeezy tune.

Yeezy Saves

One song Bono recalled that “saved” his life is Kanye’s “Black Skinhead.” He dove into the story about when he first heard the song live on “Saturday Night Live,” as he was in there in person.

“Dear Kanye, I was a hundred feet from your feet… Your eyes were shut so as not to be distracted from the words you had just written around the corner, but here you were debuting this song live from Saturday Night Live… and I’m in the TV studio to witness some black history. It’s May 18, 2013. Your “leather black jeans on, my by-any-means-on, pardon, I’m getting my scream on, enter the kingdom”… It felt like hip hop wanted the black leather jacket back from rock ’n’ roll… and the rock ’n’ roll silhouette too. And there you were. Head like a bullet against the supermarket yellow backdrop with a sign saying NOT FOR SALE. Words shot from from a block-like mouth, from the lips of some punk Othello, with dogs like wolves on a leash… teeth bared, tongues dripping, ku klux knots slipping. I was about to get mu but I musically kicked in the head but I remember the smell of bovver boot leather as it actually stomped on me. I remember white skinheads. It sounded like nothing I’d ever heard before. The soundtrack of terror, but I wasn’t afraid… I was relieved somebody was fearless.” – U2’s Instagram

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Some more fan letters…. Bono

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“These are some of the songs that saved my life…. the ones I couldn’t have lived without… the ones that got me from there to here, zero to 60… through all the scrapes, all manner of nuisance, from the serious to the silly… and the joy, mostly joy… I wanted to thank the artists and everyone who helped make them… They were doing the same for me… I am writing a fan letter to accompany each song to try and explain my fascination… I’ll be sharing some here and on U2.com… Bono – link in bio.” – U2’s Instagram

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'These are some of the songs that saved my life…. the ones I couldn’t have lived without… the ones that got me from there to here, zero to 60… through all the scrapes, all manner of nuisance, from the serious to the silly… and the joy, mostly joy… I wanted to thank the artists and everyone who helped make them… They were doing the same for me… I am writing a fan letter to accompany each song to try and explain my fascination… I’ll be sharing some here and on U2.com… Bono – link in bio.’

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Ole Ye

Kanye is returning to his roots. The hip-hop great recently made a big purchase in his native city of Chicago and bought his childhood home in the South Shore neighborhood. According to reports, Ye dropped $225,000 on his old house, which his mother Donda West bought in 1980 and sold in 2004. Ye has plans to invest around $60,000 more into the property to fix it up.

Kanye West has bought his childhood home in Chicago’s South Shore neighborhood, according to a WGN real estate report. According to the permit, West plans to spend an additional $60,000 for renovations, on top of the $225,000 sale price. That’s a lot of money for most people in today’s climate. But it’s loose change to the recently crowned billionaire, who dropped $14 million on a ranch Wyoming last year. Ye’s mother, the late Donda West, bought the house in the early ’80s and sold it in 2004. “It went through a lot of trouble after that,” said real estate reporter Dennis Rodkin. The property reportedly went through foreclosure and fell into disrepair before it was bought by West’s former collaborator, Rhymefest. The Chicago musician and politician had plans to turn the house into an “arts incubator.” (Highsnobiety)

Wait, There’s More

According to a report by Forbes, Yeezy now has some serious bragging rights to his name. After years of stacking up his investments and ventures, Mr. West’s net worth is now in the billion dollar category.

The declaration was the culmination of a years-long campaign by West to get added to the magazine’s annual Billionaires List, Forbes reported Friday. Forbes now says that the rapper and fashion designer is worth $1.3 billion, mostly because of his sole ownership of his brand Yeezy. West reportedly claims that he is worth $3.3 billion. Bloomberg, which seemingly reviewed the same documents provided to Forbes, acknowledged that West’s accountant provided documents showing that he has more than $3 billion worth of assets, but stopped short of explicitly calling West a “billionaire.” (Business Insider)

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‪Kanye West is now officially a billionaire, worth $1.3B‬ . . [Peep #SOHH.com hourly for the latest news!] #SOHHNews #HipHop #RapNews #MustRead #MusicNews #50Cent #Drake #LilWayne #KodakBlack #CashMoney #Future #YoungThug #NickiMinaj #CardiB #Migos #Offset #GucciMane #KendrickLamar #TDE #NBAYoungBoy #OVO #Quavo #NipseyHussle #JAYZ #LilUziVert #Kanye

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Before You Go

Recently, some super throwback footage surfaced of Kanye. The video features him shopping in a Chicago mall after signing to Roc-A-Fella Records.

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Kanye shopping at the mall in Chicago after signing with Roc-A-Fella. @mtvnews

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