Kanye West is convinced he could have become become "greater" than Picasso if he had continued with a career in fine art.

The rapper was a guest lecturer at Oxford University in England on Monday (02Mar15), and during his address to students, West revealed his regrets over giving up on his art course at the American Academy of Art in Chicago, Illinois in the 1990s.

He transferred to an English course and later dropped out of college to focus on music, but West is convinced he would have become an internationally-renowned artist if he had stuck with his first career choice, and even compares himself to iconic Spanish painter/sculptor Pablo Picasso.

He told the audience at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, "Today was the first time I realised, if I could have done it again... I would have researched where I could have got the best and the strongest education... The idea of being a fine artist, that's a really difficult profession to get into, to be respected in, to make money at.

"Maybe the goal for some of the people was just to work at an advertising agency or at a record label. 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 in the past that has done so much, and in your life you're not even allowed to think that you can do as much. That's a mentality that suppresses humanity."