Leonard Cohen wrote a poem in 2015 titled “Kanye West Is Not Picasso,” making fun of the US artist and of fellow rapper Jay-Z, included in a new posthumous collection of poetry written by the legendary Canadian Jewish singer, who died in 2016 aged 82.
The diss poem appears to be a response to repeated remarks West made over the years, comparing himself to the famous Spanish painter Pablo Picasso, among other celebrities.
“Kanye West is not Picasso/ I am Picasso/ Kanye West is not Edison/ I am Edison/ I am Tesla,” the poem reads.
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In 2015, the always provocative West said he would be Picasso or greater if he decided to become a painter.
“My goal, if I was going to do art, fine art, would have been to become Picasso or greater,” the 41-year-old rapper said. “That always sounds so funny to people, comparing yourself to someone who has done so much, and that’s a mentality that suppresses humanity.”
Cohen’s poem, released as part of the new collection “The Flame,” also includes a reference to an infamous incident at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards during which West interrupted a acceptance speech by Taylor Swift for Best New Video, saying singer Beyonce should have won instead.
“I am the Kanye West Kanye West thinks he is/ When he shoves your ass off the stage,” the poem reads.
Cohen also rips Beyonce’s husband Jay-Z in the poem, saying he “is not the Dylan of Anything.”
That is an apparent response to the rapper calling himself “the Bob Dylan of rap music” in the lyrics of his 2013 song “Open Letter.”
The 48-year-old has also previously referred to himself as “the new Sinatra” and “rap’s Grateful Dead.”
“Kanye West Is Not Picasso” by Leonard Cohen:
Kanye West is not Picasso
I am Picasso
Kanye West is not Edison
I am Edison
I am Tesla
Jay-Z is not the Dylan of Anything
I am the Dylan of anything
I am the Kanye West of Kanye West
The Kanye West
Of the great bogus shift of bullshit culture
From one boutique to another
I am Tesla
I am his coil
The coil that made electricity soft as a bed
I am the Kanye West Kanye West thinks he is
When he shoves your ass off the stage
I am the real Kanye West
I don’t get around much anymore
I never have
I only come alive after a war
And we have not had it yet
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