Kanye West vs Da Vinci, Warhol, Socrates and more

This weekend Kanye West celebrated ten years of his sophomore album Late Registration, the record that gave us “Gold Digger”, ”Diamonds from Sierra Leone” and “Touch the Sky”, amongst other hits. Although he may be having a moment of humility after last night’s MTV VMA awards (where he delivered an eight minute speech that included an admission that he “just wanted people to like [him] more” and ended in him announcing a run for President), what better excuse to mark ten years of West’s influence than looking back at some of his best personal comparisons and lyrical references. He’s drawn a lot of scorn over the years for declaring his similarity to some of the greats, but from Warhol to Picasso, we think most of these people would agree with what he said last night – “I will die for the art for what I believe in and the art ain't always gonna be polite.” Even good old Socrates.

Related: Kim Kardashian’s unexpected art history crossovers

Concept Lakeisha Goedluck, collages by @ArtLexaChung