Kanye West ‘strives to be the best’

Talib Kweli says Kanye West searches for musical excellence at "every waking moment".

Before Kanye became a huge name in the hip-hop scene, he was rapper Talib's protégé.

Kanye joined Talib on the road a decade ago to learn from the veteran musician.

Throughout the experience Kanye searched for knowledge wherever he could find it.

"I brought him on the road because he was nasty, he was nice with it," Talib told MTV News. "Not only was he nice with it, he spent almost every waking moment practicing and trying to get better and looking for opinions on his music."

Kanye referred to himself as a "nucleus" of culture in a recent New York Times article.

Talib is not surprised Kanye has won so many Grammy Awards and achieved great success.

The rapper always admired Kanye's work ethic.

"He wakes up, he writes rhymes, he says the rhyme to whoever wants to listen and he keeps improving on it. He asks for advice, that's what he does," Talib detailed.

"He always strives to be the best and to him it is about technique."

Kanye believes his music will impact culture for many generations.

He even compares himself to the late CEO of Apple computers, Steve Jobs.

"I think what Kanye West is going to mean is something similar to what Steve Jobs means," he told the New York Times.

"I am undoubtedly, you know, Steve of Internet, downtown, fashion, culture. Period. By a long jump. I honestly feel that because Steve has passed, you know, it's like when Biggie passed and Jay-Z was allowed to become Jay-Z."