Rapper Kanye West made a surprise appearance at a college here and shared his views on the importance of education.

The 37-year-old spent over two hours at the digital communications department at LA Trade Technical College Sep 19, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

West talked about his own experiences and personal struggles through music, fashion and graphic arts.

"It went on for about an hour and a half and Kanye discussed a lot of things but mainly about his inspirations. He mentioned Ice Cube being one of his biggest inspirations, but also one of his biggest let downs. He also discussed Steve Jobs, 2Pac and his grandfather,` said Andre Pitts III, one of the students at the university.

"I've listened to Kanye since I was younger but I can't rate him as a teacher because he didn't come to teach a fashion class, he just spoke about his inspirations. He didn't try to be a teacher, he simply spoke about how life really is," he added.

The visit was the part of his 240-hour community service sentence which was handed out when he struck a plea deal over allegedly attacking a photographer last summer.