Kanye West says he wants to be 'Picasso or greater' in latest rant

Kanye West has done it again with a lengthy rant to Oxford University students. Photo/AP

He certainly doesn't suffer from a lack of confidence and in a recent Oxford speech, Kanye West showed his ego is as healthy as ever.

Addressing the Oxford Guild Society at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History on Monday afternoon, Kanye revealed his aspirations to become not just any artist, but "Picasso or greater" and his regrets that he did not attend art college.

The 37-year-old rapper also told of this close friendship with US President Barack Obama in the 30-minute speech which was both egotistical and peppered with bouts of humility.

While West banned mobile phones from his talk in order to stop students taking pictures of him, student newspaper The Tab livetweeted proceedings from a laptop.

And despite his best efforts, some pictures did emerge.

At one stage West compared himself to the famed Spanish artist Pablo Picasso, when he said: "My goal, if I was going to do art, fine art, would have been to become Picasso or greater. That always sounds so funny to people, comparing yourself to someone who has done so much, and that's a mentality that suppresses humanity.

"If I could have done it again I would have gone to the art institute over the American Academy. We have the resources as a civilisation to make a utopia, but we're led by the most greedy and the least noble."

He added: "I don't think there's a living celebrity with more weapons formed against him, but I don't think there's one more prosperous."

And speaking about Obama, West said: "Obama calls the home phone, by the way."

Never one to shy away from self praise, West said about his own 2010 record, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy: "Chris Rock & everyone else at every single media publication called My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy the best album of the last 25 years."

However, with a dash of humility, he admitted that Nicki Minaj's work on the album track Monster was superior to his own.

He explained: "One of the best things about the album was Nicki Minaj, and that she kicked my ass, on my own song, on the best album of the last 25 years.

"I was exiled from my own country, came back with my Magnum Opus, and I was beat by a girl."

And he even insisted that he has gotten his monstrous ego under control.

"One of my biggest Achilles heels has been ego. And if I, Kanye West, can remove my ego, I think there's hope for everyone," he said.

Chairman of the Oxford Guild revealed earlier in the day that they had spent "many hours" trying to finalise plans for his visit.

Abbas Kazmi said: 'We are very excited to be hosting such an inspiring and high profile a speaker as the legendary Kanye West and expect it to be a fascinating and memorable event.'

He continued: "It is great to see the hard work pay off after having spent many hours negotiating against the odds and keeping things under wraps to secure this event which is a real coup for the Guild which I am proud to see continuing to grow from strength to strength, reaching even higher heights and winning ever more national awards and accolades."

The speech was attended by a group of 300 students who were able to get tickets over the last 24 hours with a video of the speech to be uploaded online afterwards.

Read West's full speech here.

The rapper finally revealed the name of his seventh solo album, So Help Me God, on Saturday with a rare tweet which also appeared to show the cover artwork.

According to rap-up.com, a release date has not been announced but the 37-year-old rapper told The Breakfast Club radio show that the album is "80 percent done" and will feature "bars, songs, cookout-music that just feels good.

"My last album was a protest of music," he said.

- Daily Mail