Kanye West, the rapper who would be God

Kanye West: We've created a monster (AFP/Getty Images)

It’s hard to say quite when Kanye West’s staggering confidence came into play. Was it receiving the first perfect 10.0 review from Pitchfork in a decade? The culmination of his 21 Grammy awards? Impregnating a Kardashian? Whatever it was, we’ve created a monster.

But it wasn’t always like this. When West started out on his solo career in 2004, his first album was modestly titled The College Drop-out. He followed that with Late Registration the following year, both album titles nodding to his indifferent approach to education; failures even. It was the last time we would see such a self-deprecating personality.

Rumours began circulating this week that West plans to call his next album I am a God which quickly sent the internet into overdrive. An insider then confirmed the title to The Huffington Post, before adding, “We would never be so presumptuous or sacrilegious to call ourselves the supreme being” (whatever that’s supposed to mean). Then in another twist, an anonymous source indicated that “I am a God” will not be the title of the album, but a song featured on it.

Whatever it’s called, the album will be his first release since his 2011 collaboration with Jay-Z, Watch the Throne. Clearly not content with being a king, now West has his sights set even higher.

But we’ve come to expect such controversial antics from the rapper. This is a man who told America that “George Bush hates black people”; who stole Taylor Swift’s award out of her hands onstage; who says his greatest pain in life is that he will never be able to watch himself perform. A man who is now rumoured to be calling his unborn child Khrist. Let’s face it, he probably won’t (hopefully). But the fact that it’s even a rumour says everything you need to know.