Although he dropped out of college, 37-year-old rapper Kanye West received an honorary doctorate from The Art Institute of Chicago this week.

“I was a gifted artist since age 5 and won national competitions and went to art school,” he said in an interview with Clique Magazine.

West, known for rarely smiling in pictures, was glowing with pride when he received his doctorate from one of the leading art and design institutes in the nation. Following this, he gave a speech describing what the Ph.D means to him.

“When I was giving a lecture at Oxford, I brought up this school because when I went on that mission to create in other spaces – apparel, film, performance – it would have been easier if I could have said I had a degree at the Art Institute of Chicago” he says.

Lisa Wainwright, Dean of Faculty and Vice President of Academic Administration at the institution told The Los Angeles Times, “I read it and thought, ‘Wow, this is a fantastic moment.’ Here is this major figure in the cultural landscape promoting art school, this guy from Chicago saying art school is cool. So we thought, ‘This man deserves an honorary doctorate from us!’ He should have gone here.”

While in Brazil promoting her new book, Selfish, his wife, Kim Kardashian West, showed her support of her husband on social media by saying “Dr. Kanye West!!!!!!! I’m so proud of you baby & I know your mom would be so proud too!!!!”