Kanye West claims to be victim of racism during childhood

Kanye West says experiencing racism as a child gave him a better perspective of the world.

The Bound 2 rapper recalled an incident when he was 10 years old and was subjected to racial prejudice.

He told Paper magazine: "When I was 10 years old I lived in China, and at the time they used to come up to me and rub my face to see if the colour would rub off.

"I was really (messed) up, but I feel like it was preparing me for a world perspective that a lot of my friends who never got a chance to travel, didn't get.

"Now, my perspective, a lot of times, is so much wider than someone who's limited to the concept of any particular so-called 'world' that's not the real world."

The 37-year-old rapper - who has 22-month-old daughter North with wife Kim Kardashian West - previously revealed he thinks the term racism is a "dated concept".

"Racism is a dated concept. It's like a silly concept that people try to touch on to either ... separate, to alienate or to pinpoint anything. It's stupid. It's like a bouncing ball in a room with two cats, or something; when you don't feel like playing with a cat. Let them literally fight over the bouncing ball.

"The bouncing ball has nothing, no purpose - anything other than that: It bounces. That's racism. It's not an actual thing that even means anything."