Kanye West Receives Honorary Doctorate From The Art Institute of Chicago

Kanye West left his mark on the hip-hop world with his debut, The College Dropout, and since then, his influence has spread elsewhere, including fashion, at a rapid pace. He recently received his honorary doctorate from the Art Institute of Chicago.

West reportedly amused the crowd and even paid a compliment to former President George W. Bush. He pointed out the fact that Bush "has some very cool self portraits."

The outspoken rapper also revealed that he was a bit nervous but honored to accept the degree.

"The nerves of humility and modesty when being honored," he said. "A humanization, a reality of being recognized. And all I thought as I sit here, shaking a bit, is I need to get rid of that feeling."

Prior to accepting his degree, West gave an hour long lecture at SAIC during last night's pre-commencement ceremony at SAIC.

Check out Dr. West's speech:

Last month, the school's president and dean of faculty have defended their decision to give the degree to the "All Day" rapper. Dean Lisa Wainwright praised West for representing an element that often goes overlooked in the high art world.

"There's still this sense that high art is what we do, is what we honor, is what we're about. And that pop culture is not what we teach in art school. Pop culture, mass culture - that's a whole other thing, and we're about high art. I think that's a problem. We're trying to collapse those boundaries a little bit. That's what I like about Kanye."

Any thoughts? Sound off in the comment section below.

Tags

Kanye West