Kanye West has said that Steve Jobs, the late Apple CEO, was the biggest influence on his career.
Speaking to AdWeek, Kanye said that Jobs’ determination in his role at Apple had a profound effect on him, saying: “Steve Jobs, as everyone knows, was my biggest influence. Just seeing the way he fought to make things easier for people. After he passed, I made it my life’s mission to do what he did inside of that company.”
Related: Apple Releases its Cheapest iMac Ever
He continued: “I dream to help raise the palette and raise the taste level of a generation and also be involved with the production and distribution and advertising of that thing everyone’s begging for.”
Kanye also spoke of Apple’s recent acquisition of Beats, the headphone manufacturer helmed by Dr. Dre, saying that the deal would not have happened had it not have been for Jay-Z’s partnership with Samsung. The Yeezus rapper said: “There would have been no Beats deal without the Samsung deal. It showed the No. 1 company the importance of connecting with culture. Samsung is not quite Apple, but it showed that Jimmy [Iovine] and Dre would be able to connect with the No. 1 influencers.”
Apple purchased Beats for a huge $3 billion, with the prevailing theory being that Apple wants to make use of the manufacturer’s music streaming knowledge, along with improving the overall quality of the headphones.
