Kanye West Announces Plans To Build His Own City in the Middle East Amid Financial Woes

Kanye West, the rapper who now goes by the moniker Ye, announced plans to build a 100,000-acre city in the Middle East.

In a tweet posted on the page "Unreleased Ye," the rapper announced he was planning to create the city of DROAM. The post did not say when the project will begin. The rapper also did not disclose specifically where in the Middle East his city would be located.

However, Ye said he is actively seeking project managers, engineers, architects, contractors, and builders to join him in the DROAM project. The city, which the rapper said is still in Phase 1 development, boasts plans to span 100,000 acres, which is twice the size of the city of New York.

Ye's Financial Woes

Ye's DROAM announcement comes amid reports that the rapper is suffering financial woes. A Los Angeles church he bought in the Northridge neighborhood for $1.5 million in March is allegedly lying in neglect, with the main house lying empty for months and the windows boarded up with planks of wood, per The U.S. Sun. Locals who talked to the outlet said a man often comes to check on the building.

"I see someone come and check the property every few weeks to make sure it's OK, but they haven't done anything to it. It's been empty for months," a local resident told the Sun.

Ye bought the LA church with the plan of moving his ill-fated Christian school Donda Academy to the building.

In addition, Ye is also selling his beachfront property in Malibu, California, for $53 million. The home, which is listed by agent Jason Oppenheim, lacks plumbing, electricity, windows, and doors, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Ye bought the property in 2021 for $57.25 million and launched a gut renovation shortly after. However, the renovation was not completed. In the listing, Oppenheim noted that the house would serve as a "blank canvas" for buyers and that it could take "several million dollars" for it to be finished.

Designed by Pritzker Prize-winning Japanese architect Tadao Ando, the property has 4,000 square feet of interior space and about 1,500 square feet of outdoor decks. The house itself is constructed with 1,200 tons of concrete and 200 tons of steel reinforcement.