Kanye West compares press criticism to slavery

London: During a lecture at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, rapper Kanye West compared the press criticism he gets to slavery.

"They don`t want you to be you," mirror.co.uk quoted West as saying while referring to the criticism his work has courted from disc jockeys and reviewers.

"If a slave got too strong, and he was talking too loud, they`d say, `we`re gonna put this slave in front of a crowd and whip his a** until `what now?`"

West, who is engaged to Kim Kardashian, launched his debut album "College Dropout" in 2004.

Kim joined the talk in the iconic learning centre, and she even posted a picture on Twitter with the caption: "My baby speaking at the Harvard Graduate School of Design."