Kanye West said in 2018 he scored 133 on an IQ test, Mensa level, 98th percentile. Here is what he actually said and what a 133 IQ score really means.
Dr. Russell T. WarneChief Scientist
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Kanye West's IQ is widely reported as 133, and the number has exactly one source: Kanye West. In an October 2018 livestream he announced, "I just got back my IQ scores. It's Mensa level — [a score of] 133, 98% percentile. Straight up Sigmund Freud, Tesla vibes." No test name, no examiner, and no score report have ever been made public, so the figure is self-reported and cannot be verified. Unlike most celebrity IQ folklore, though, 133 is statistically coherent: it really does sit near the 98th percentile. Here is what he said, what the math shows, and what his record actually supports.
What Kanye West actually said about his IQ
The claim arrived in two statements made two days apart. On October 11, 2018, during a widely televised White House meeting, West said: "98 percentile IQ test. I had a 75 percentile of all human beings, but it was counting eight numbers backwards." The Chicago Sun-Times published a full transcript of the remarks.
He gave the context himself: he had been connected with "a neuropsychologist that works with the athletes in the NBA and the NFL," and he said the evaluation led the examiner to revise an earlier bipolar disorder diagnosis to sleep deprivation. This article does not evaluate his health. The relevant detail is that he described a professional neuropsychological evaluation, the setting in which an IQ-type score would normally be produced.
On October 13, in a Periscope livestream from Uganda, the number followed: "I just got back my IQ scores," he said, putting the result at "133, 98% percentile." The timeline is consistent: "98 percentile" on October 11, the same percentile attached to a score two days later. It reads like one evaluation reported twice.
Is 133 a believable IQ score?
Modern tests report "deviation IQ" scores, which describe how far a person stands from the average of their own age group on a bell curve with a mean of 100 and a "standard deviation" (a measure of how spread out scores are) of 15. A 133 is 2.2 standard deviations above the mean, which corresponds to about the 98.6th percentile, roughly 1 person in 70. West's own "98% percentile" gloss is therefore statistically accurate for a 133. Unlike the claimed 160s and 180s on celebrity IQ lists, nothing about the number strains belief; it sits well below the range covered in our guide to what counts as a genius IQ score.
The subtest detail helps the story sound real. Reciting "eight numbers backwards" is a recognizable description of the backward digit span task, a standard measure of working memory in professional batteries. A high overall score with a weaker 75th-percentile working memory result is the kind of uneven profile genuine evaluations produce. Plausible is still not verified: without a test name, examiner, or report, the number cannot be checked.
Would 133 really be "Mensa level"?
Roughly, yes, if the score were real and came from an accepted test. American Mensa admits people who score at or above the 98th percentile on a professionally administered test from its approved list. A genuine 133 on a qualifying instrument would sit at or just above that bar. Mensa does not confirm individual members or publish their scores, though, and there is no public record that West ever took a Mensa admissions test or joined. Our article on which celebrities are Mensa members shows how thin such claims usually get when chased to their sources.
The "Sigmund Freud, Tesla vibes" flourish is a gloss no one can test: neither man ever took an IQ test, and any numbers attached to them are retrospective guesses by later writers.
Why the number still cannot be verified
• No documentation exists: No test name, named psychologist, or score report has ever been made public, and Mensa publishes nothing about individuals.
• Self-reported scores are unfalsifiable: A number with no paper trail cannot be confirmed or contradicted, no matter who reports it.
• A real IQ score is a documented administration: It comes from a professionally normed test, given under standard conditions, with a report that states the instrument and its precision.
Most celebrity IQ folklore fails earlier, with numbers that were simply invented; the fabricated figure we trace in our article on Snoop Dogg's IQ is a good example. West's claim is specific and self-consistent, and it remains, by every documentary standard psychology uses, unverified.
What is actually verified about Kanye West
The verifiable record is remarkable on its own. The Recording Academy's artist page credits West with 24 GRAMMY wins from 76 nominations, a run that began when his No. 2 debut album, The College Dropout, earned his first career GRAMMYs for 2004, including Best Rap Album. Born Kanye Omari West on June 8, 1977, in Atlanta, he was raised in an academic household: his mother, Dr. Donda West, chaired the English department at Chicago State University and spent 31 years in higher education before leaving academia in 2004 to help manage her son's career.
By his own and his mother's account, he studied art and then enrolled at Chicago State, where she taught, before leaving around age 20 to pursue music. The psychometric lesson sits in the contrast: exceptional achievement in a single domain is strong evidence of talent in that domain rather than a measured IQ. IQ tests measure general cognitive ability against age-group norms; they do not measure artistic genius, and no count of awards converts into a score.
How to get an IQ score that actually counts
The lesson of the West episode is that a defensible IQ number names its test, its norms, and its precision. A score like that comes from a documented administration of a professionally normed instrument. The Reasoning and Intelligence Online Test from RIOT IQ reports deviation scores with stated confidence intervals, and you can take the free RIOT IQ test here. The result is a number you can actually point to.
Frequently asked questions
What is Kanye West's IQ?
West said in an October 2018 livestream that his IQ scores had come back "Mensa level" at "133, 98% percentile." The number is self-reported; no test name, examiner, or report has been made public, so no verified IQ exists for him. Unlike many celebrity claims, though, 133 really does sit near the 98th percentile.
Did Kanye West really take an IQ test?
Possibly. Two days before the 133 claim he described being evaluated by a neuropsychologist who works with NBA and NFL athletes, and he cited a specific subtest result that matches a standard backward digit span task. That is consistent with a real evaluation, and none of it has been publicly documented, so the score cannot be verified.
Is Kanye West in Mensa?
There is no public record that he is. American Mensa's cutoff is the 98th percentile on an accepted test, so a genuine 133 would be at or just above the bar, but Mensa does not confirm individual members or scores.
How high is an IQ of 133?
On a scale with a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 15, a 133 falls around the 98.6th percentile, roughly the top 1 to 2 percent, about 1 person in 70. It is within the range many gifted programs use for eligibility.
How many Grammys has Kanye West won?
The Recording Academy's artist page credits him with 24 GRAMMY wins from 76 nominations, beginning with Best Rap Album for The College Dropout (2004).
Did Kanye West go to college?
Yes, briefly. By his own and his family's account he attended Chicago State University, where his mother chaired the English department, before leaving to pursue music; his 2004 debut, The College Dropout, made that decision his signature theme.
References
1. Chicago Sun-Times. (2018, October 11). Transcript: Kanye West meets with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office.chicago.suntimes.com
2. Kaye, B. (2018, October 13). Kanye says he scored a 133 on Mensa IQ test. Consequence. consequence.net
