Kanye West's 133 IQ: Here Is What Makes 'Ye' a Genius

With an IQ of 133, Kanye West is a force to be reckoned with. You might know his controversial public persona, but what you don't know is that beneath all that lies a very smart cookie. Intelligence is not only measured by school; creativity is also a measure of intelligence, and Kanye West has proven that he has it time and again. Bill Plympton can attest to this; he worked with him on the “Heard ‘Em Say” music video and was blown away by his creativity and vision. He went as far as calling him a potential theater director.

Trump is another person who spoke about Kanye’s intelligence. In his first term, President Trump linked up with Kanye and had discussions on prison reform and gang violence in Chicago. You know, the smart stuff. And true to that, President Trump called Kanye a smart guy.

Kanye even got an honorary doctorate from the Art Institute of Chicago back in 2015. But that degree was eventually rescinded in 2022 amidst controversy over his divisive remarks and public behavior.

As you can tell, Kanye's career has not been without challenges. Beyond the music, he's faced mounting backlash over the years — losing major brand partnerships, getting cancelled by large portions of the public, and becoming a polarizing figure in both entertainment and fashion. In 2016, he declared himself bankrupt and reached out to Mark Zuckerberg to fund his ideas with $1 billion. Yet, his net worth currently stands at $400 million according to Forbes. That’s a phenomenal comeback. This time, without his big brand endorsements by Adidas.

5 Reasons Why Kanye West Is Considered a Genius

• IQ of 133: Taking it from the horse's mouth, Kanye's IQ is 133. This puts him in the upper echelons of intelligence.
• Successful Music Career: Kanye West has secured 24 Grammy awards from 76 nominations, which makes him one of the most awarded artists of all time. He has a great work ethic, which is reflected in his career. Even after getting a near-death experience in 2022, Kanye West returned big and better.
• Innovative Fashion Line: Kanye created Yeezy, a hugely successful fashion brand. His success in both fashion and music shows his creative smarts.
• Business Ventures: His collaboration with Adidas was a revolution in itself. He branded and marketed a shoe brand that had competitors crunching their pearls. He was strategic with it.
• Educational Achievements: Kanye West dropped out of college to pursue his music career. However, the Art Institute of Chicago took note of his intelligence and gave him an honorary doctoral degree. Despite lacking higher education, Kanye West has been able to navigate the music industry with ease.

How Does Kanye West's IQ Compare to Other People?

Kanye West's IQ of 133 places him in the top 1% of the population. This score exceeds the entry threshold of Mensa International, a high-IQ society that requires your IQ to be in the 98th percentile (top 2%). In fact, Kanye famously claimed he got his 133 IQ score at the Mensa IQ test. Though it falls short of Intertel's 135 IQ mark, the significance remains immense.

To put this into perspective, IQ tests range from 40-50 to 160-180, depending on the type of IQ test. IQs below 50 indicate moderate to severe intellectual disability, while IQs over 130 are considered highly gifted or genius level. 68% of people have an IQ between 85 and 100, so with a score of 133, you can see Kanye West's genius.

What Does Kanye West’s Business Acumen Tell Us About His Intelligence?

Kanye West was worth $2 billion, but in 2022, he lost brand partnerships, which made his worth plummet to $400 million. In 2025, Kanye West came forward to state that his worth stands at $2.77 billion following valuations by Eton Venture Services. However, Forbes maintains that his worth is $400 million.

His music has brought in a significant amount of income, but what we will delve into is his strategic way of making investments.

Kanye West has a 5% stake in SKIMS, a clothing brand owned by his ex-wife, Kim Kardashian. As of 2023, SKIMS was valued at $4 billion, meaning that Kanye West is getting some good bread from this venture. He was an early investor; as a matter of fact, he invested during the company's inception in 2019. Perhaps he could see his wife's potential, but he was also actively involved in its establishment. He helped with creative direction, branding, and rollout.

There is a move that you never saw coming. While Kanye West might have been supportive of Kim Kardashian's business venture at the start, he later started condemning it, saying that the brand image is overly sexualized. Therefore, Kanye West is looking to start his own bodysuit clothing brand, Yzy Women’s Collection. When he made this announcement, he also attacked Adidas, claiming that their clothing was overpriced. By doing this, he's appealing to their market segments, aiming to take some customers. He knows that women's wear sells, and this has been a strategic move to directly compete with his wife's brand, even though he's still getting his share from SKIMS. Talk about having your cake and eating it.

Kanye West is also a techpreneur. In 2021, Kanye launched the STEM Player in collaboration with a British company. It allows users to manipulate music – to remix and isolate elements such as bass, drums, vocals, and melodies. This innovation transforms passive music listeners into creative participants. When he released Donda 2, it was only available on STEM Player, not Spotify or Apple Music. By making this move, Kanye West shows his deep understanding of ownership, control, and innovation. Despite the premium selling point of this innovation, it still brought in millions in revenue shortly after its launch.

Perhaps the biggest demonstration of intellect in the business world is the Yeezy brand, the sneaker empire he built with Adidas. Notably, Kanye West retained ownership of the brand in this licensing deal. Initially, Yeezy had partnered with Nike in 2009, but this agreement was unsuccessful due to royalty disagreements. The shoe was selling, but Nike was not ready to give in to Kanye’s demands.

So he switched to Adidas in 2015, where he negotiated royalties and full creative control of his brand. It was rare for a brand like Adidas to agree to such terms. At its peak, Yeezy was valued at $4 billion. In 2021, the brand brought in around $1.7 billion in revenue, and seeing that he was given an 11% royalty, Kanye West made an easy $143 million that year, from this business venture alone.

Kanye West Is a Marketing Genius

Behind the controversial persona lies a marketing genius. From fighting the paparazzi to walking out of award shows due to defeat, it is clear proof that Kanye doesn't care about his reputation. The list of people he has offended continues to grow. He has called George Bush a racist, likened himself to Jesus, and embarrassed his ex-wife countless times in public. But that also means that he is always in the tabloids or on Twitter's trending list. Kanye seems to think that all publicity is good publicity, and it works for him most of the time. When he was asked to comment on wearing a Confederate patch on his jacket, Kanye West said, “React how you want. Any energy is good energy. And true to that, his albums sell incredibly; he has a massive social media following, and his businesses are thriving.

Kanye West's erratic behavior is part of his brand. Even his music deals with provocative issues. For instance, on the Yeezus album, he talks about the history of racism in America. His fashion choices are also an extension of this brand identity. Think of Donald Trump, Miley Cyrus, and Jeremy Clarkson. Perhaps this sort of persona works in highly charged environments like politics, entertainment, and music. In other areas, like business, such behavior can mean the end because businesses have to be accountable to their customers.

Kanye West has become a marketing genius through a carefully curated strategy. For instance, when he launched Yeezy, he associated it with exclusivity. So people were fighting to get in on the first drop. After creating the hype, Kanye West started mass production with Adidas while still retaining the hype it had in the beginning.

Kanye West is disruptive, and this gets the people going. He is unpredictable. He will tweet the most outrageous things, launch an album with no notice, or even change his name. But perhaps what highlighted his marketing genius is his wife, Bianca Censori, showing us a sneak peek of his upcoming collection from the Yzy women's clothing brand. While it sparked a lot of controversy, it also built up anticipation for the launch.

Does Kanye West’s Personal Life Reflect His Intelligence?

His marriage to Bianca Censori was a smart move on Ye's part. Bianca Censori is a highly intelligent woman; she has a master's in architecture and was already working at Yeezy as the head of architecture before meeting Kanye West. Their marriage was very strategic.

After the 2022 scandal, Kanye West lost nearly everything that he had worked for his entire life. Besides that, his divorce from Kim Kardashian was messy. On the other hand, his marriage to Bianca Censori was like a realignment. He was trying to restructure his image, business, and public perception.

Kanye West praises his wife's intellect every opportunity he gets. It is great that they have a shared vision, creativity, and intellect. He once revealed that his wife has an IQ of 140. She's not outspoken or out in public like his ex-wife.

In addition, his marriage to his first wife, Kim Kardashian, was also deeply strategic – but we are not discounting that they were in love. It was a cultural and business merger, and both brands were elevated in the period of their marriage. Together, Kim and Kanye were a cultural force that many young people looked up to. This strategic partnership showed that he understood how branding, media, and identity work.

Kanye West’s Musical IQ

He might excel in business and fashion, but when it comes to music, he obliterates the scales! His music career is a reflection of innovation, intuition, work ethic, but most of all, intelligence. Ye can pull sounds from anywhere and make them part of his art. He’ll sample industrial noise, gospel choirs, classical songs, you name it. When he samples, he doesn't just borrow the sound; he redefines and owns it.

When it comes to music production, Kanye West is a perfectionist. Reportedly, he scrapped the entire Ye album and started from scratch in 2018. Initially, the album had 10 songs, but he wanted seven songs. Mike Dean, Kanye's collaborator, said that he came into work and found that Kanye had erased all the work they had done prior and announced they'd be starting over fresh. The process took 2 weeks.

This came after he had made some infamous remarks on slavery, saying it's a choice. He also went on to show up unannounced at the TMZ offices following the interview. These experiences forced Kanye West to rethink the contents of his album. According to Kanye, the first version was highly political and would spark a lot of controversy. Therefore, he had to tone it down because “it was just too sensitive.”

Mark Dean is not the only witness to Kanye West's unique creative process. Rick Rubin, another of Kanye's collaborators, said that he recorded the vocals to his Yeezus album just days before its release. He said that some vocals were put together 2 hours before the release.

Kanye West's collaborations also highlight his genius. He has brought in some top-tier musicians to help expand his craft. Not only musicians but also producers and writers. He pushes them to reach their highest potential because he only accepts the best. For instance, when he was creating the My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy he invited artists to help in brainstorming. This was a demonstration of leadership, social intelligence, and vision.

Additionally, Kanye West's music is not superficial, but many people who are not die-hard fans might misunderstand it as flashy and provocative. In fact, he goes to great lengths to ensure intellectual and emotional depth. As a result, he often uses history to tell a story. He has touched on deep matters such as insecurity, racism, America, addiction, heartbreak – you name it.

In the album The College Dropout, Kanye West questions whether higher education and a 9-5 job are the only means to succeed. In this album, he touches on sensitive topics such as capitalism, religion, and the illusion of the American dream. He talks about deeply personal experiences such as surviving a near-death accident in 2002, disappointing his mother, and being underestimated. In this album, Ye is trying to redefine societal success, especially for the African American male who is living in a world not built for him.

In his recent albums, Ye still shows the same outspoken nature. For instance, the Yeezus album condemns conformity and capitalism. Kanye West is not just making music, he is asking the important questions. He continually challenges the status quo, but at the same time, he remains emotionally resonant. It's the kind of multifaceted nature that no other musician has come close to.

Ranking Kanye West's IQ Among Musicians

Kanye West's IQ of 133 is considered a high IQ score. Let's see who else has a high IQ in the music industry.

Brian May, guitarist of Queen, has an IQ of 170. In addition to his musical talents, May is also an accomplished astrophysicist. His high IQ allows him to excel in multiple fields. He studied physics and mathematics at Imperial College London, one of the world's top science universities, and he even has a PHD. His high intellectual level allowed him to build his own guitar with its own signature sound. Besides that, he is also an author. His ability to blend creativity and intellect is very rare.

Cardi B, known for her bold personality and chart-topping hits, reportedly has a surprising IQ of 95. Cardi B's intelligence, though measured differently, shines through in her strategic career moves and ability to dominate the hip-hop scene. She continues to break boundaries and redefine what it means to be a successful artist. Her instrumental role in Kamala Harris's campaigns is proof of her social intelligence. She was used to lure in Hispanic voters. The fact that she realized that her values align with Kamala Harris and got actively involved is a smart move.

Next, we have Lady Gaga's 166 IQ. She combines theatrical performance with high intelligence. Lady Gaga's innovative approach has made her a pop culture icon. The move to create a little community of her fans and calling them “little monsters” is a brilliant marketing move. It gives an illusion to the fans that they know the artist personally, and as a result, they become lifelong fans and marketers too. Besides her music, she is also involved in activism and philanthropy, seeing that she founded the Born This Way Foundation, an organization that focuses on mental health and youth empowerment.

Michael Jackson, the "King of Pop," was also sharp-witted. He had an estimated IQ of 159. His groundbreaking music and dance moves continue to influence artists worldwide. Jackson's intelligence contributed significantly to his creative genius. He could seamlessly switch between genres and still resonate with fans. He created the moonwalk, a dance that has stood the test of time.

Finally, Marilyn Manson, with an IQ of 155, proves that one should never judge a book by its cover. Manson's unique style and high IQ challenge conventional norms. His work remains impactful and provocative. He spoke on deep topics such as consumerism, religion, and conformity, things that Kanye West has also touched on in his career. But unlike Kanye West, when he was publicly vilified, particularly after the Columbine shooting, Manson responded with composure and analyzed the situation. This showed that he is a thoughtful and psychologically aware person.

Did you expect Kanye West's IQ to be lower or higher than 133? Let us know in the comments section below!

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Find Out the IQ of Other Famous People

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  Quentin Tarantino

  160 IQ
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