Kanye West wants to 'redo' Instagram

No need to walk on water ... Yeezus recording star Kanye West is hanging out at the Cannes Lions festival. Photograph: Lionel Cironneau/AP

Kanye West has offered to redesign Instagram, suggesting that it would be 'a simple task' for him to beautify the popular app. Speaking at a seminar in Cannes Lions, West cited the success of his Instagrammed wedding kiss with Kim Kardashian, which is already the most-liked photo in the history of the app.

'The world as a whole is fucking ugly,' West said on Tuesday, during an appearance at Cannes' International Festival of Creativity. 'The internet as a whole is fucking ugly, too ... I said to [Instagram co-founder] Kevin [Systrom], why don't you let us re-do Instagram? Now, you know, Instagram is nice. It's nice-looking. I'm not knocking it. But just in general, everyone spends all of their time looking at their screens or their phones. And just as a simple task, we could clean that up.'

West apparently considers himself a bit of an Instagram expert. Although he doesn't have a public account, he follows his wife's postings and took an active role in refining the couple's famous photo clinch. 'Can you imagine telling someone [like Kim], who wants to just Instagram a photo, who's the number one person on Instagram, 'We need to work on the colour of the flower wall?'' he said. '[But] the fact that the No 1 most liked has a kind of aesthetic was a win for what the mission is, which is raising the palette.'

For 'like, four days', West claims, he 'sat there and worked on that photo'. Celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz allegedly 'pulled out of the wedding' on the eve of the event, leaving the MC to figure out for himself how to make his wedding snaps 'look like Annie Leibovitz'. 'The flowers were off-color and stuff like that,' he complained.

West, who is 37, has previously described himself as the 'Steve [Jobs] of internet, downtown, fashion [and] culture'. He has now claimed to be one of just three musicians, along with Will.I.Am and Ryan Leslie, who 'cares' enough to be creative director at a major company. And not just any company: unlike Jay Z, who inked a deal to release his last album with Samsung, West says he will never settle for less than 'No 1'.

'Throughout my entire life, because of how my parents raised me, I have to work with the No 1 - Jay Z, Kim, [Barack] Obama,' West said - quashing the idea that he and Jay are beefing. One day, he went on, the whole world might be 'saved by design': 'Because what is the most vulgar thing someone could do? Kill someone. Good taste is the opposite of that.'

West is currently working with Rick Rubin on the 'second half' of Yeezus, expected later this year.