Kanye West is turning to Big U -- one of L.A.'s most successful community activists -- for advice on how to improve life for Chicago's youth ... an issue Ye thinks Barack Obama ignored.
The gang prevention leader tells TMZ ... he had a long convo with Kanye recently, in which the rapper expressed disappointment in Obama for not following through on important topics they discussed. Big U hints that's one reason Ye's been supportive of President Trump.
More importantly, Kanye wanted to learn how Big U's been able to spearhead gang intervention in South L.A. with his organization, Developing Options. He says Kanye's planning to do something similar in Chi-Town.
Kanye also met with some of the kids involved with Developing Options last week, and U says he's serious about taking what he learned from them back to his hometown.
As we reported ... Kanye announced he's moving back to the Windy City and wants to heal the community.
He's already taking some baby steps.