Rapper Kanye West has shed light on why he rarely ever cracks a smile. 

The ‘Monster’ star spoke to reporters from The Huffington Post whilst attending The Daily Front Row's Fashion Los Angeles Awards earlier this week and shared that he takes inspiration from historical portrait paintings when striking a pose.

Kanye explained: “I looked at all these people's photos and they look so real and their outfits were incredible and they weren't smiling and people, you know the paparazzi, always come up to me, 'Why you not smiling?' and I think, not smiling makes me smile.”

He added: “When you see paintings in an old castle, people are not smiling 'cause it just wouldn't look as cool.”

Kanye West can currently be heard collaborating with Rihanna and Paul McCartney on the trio’s new track ‘FourFiveSeconds’ which was released online last night (January 24).

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Listen to ‘FourFiveSeconds’ below: