Update 5/11/2015: He did it! This afternoon, Kanye West was anointed with an honorary doctorate in fine arts. After removing all the Poland Spring water bottles from the see-through podium, the new Dr. West accepted the degree with great joke: "'I'm sorry' is something you can use a lot. It gives you the opportunity to give your opinion, apologize for it, and give your opinion again," he said, before harkening back to the object of one of his boldest opinions to date. "George W. Bush... has some very cool self-portraits. I didn't know he was an artist!" It gets more serious from there. Watch his full speech below.
It's graduation day for the once-proud college dropout Kanye West, who will receive an honorary doctorate from the Art Institute of Chicago at the renowned school's class of 2015 commencement ceremony, which is streaming live here beginning at 2 p.m. EST. Although his selection has stirred up controversy amongst some students and alum, SAIC President Walter E. Massey and Dean of Faculty Lisa Wainwright firmly defended the decision to award Kanye with a degree in an interview with The FADER last month. "The guy is smart, the music is beautiful, it's complicated, it's post-modern, it's hip, it's awakening," said Wainwright, "I couldn't be happier."
Kanye looked mighty happy about the occasion last night, during a commencement-eve lecture for SAIC students. All smiles, he discussed the artist's responsibility, building snowmen(?), being "mutherfucking Kanye West," and misconceptions. Browse clips from that below, and tune-in here at 2 p.m. EST to watch Kanye walk.
Audience question: "What's the biggest misconception about Kanye?" @kanyewest Answer: pic.twitter.com/Ei3DXQ3StJ
— Pablo Garcia (@prgarc) May 11, 2015
"I'm motherfucking Kanye West" (🎥: @peasant2015)
A video posted by TeamKanyeDaily (@teamkanyedaily) on
Kanye speaking to students at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago today. (🎥: @thesaskyad)
A video posted by TeamKanyeDaily (@teamkanyedaily) on
Breaking News: @kanyewest wants to build a snowman. pic.twitter.com/5ysTPwNB5G
— Pablo Garcia (@prgarc) May 11, 2015
Lead photo: Kevin Winters/Getty
