SANTA MONICA, California - Rap star Kanye West found himself Monday at Santa Monica High School, performing a rousing, six-song set and answering questions after students won a local radio contest.

"Me? I use real life, I learn from real people," West said as he sat in a classroom, waiting to go onstage. "The great thing about school, and the bad thing about it, is that you can just sit there in the back of the room and not pay any attention. In real life, being shy is not going to get you anywhere. I get educated every day."

West's visit began with a contest that radio station KPWR-FM (105.9) announced in November. The rules were simple: West would perform for the Southern California student body that cast the most votes for its school on the contest Web site.

Santa Monica High students submitted nearly 1 million votes out of the 5 million cast.

The 3,500-student campus buzzed with excitement Monday.

"This is the best thing that's ever happened to us," said Laura Thatcher, 15. "We have 30-minute classes, and then we're seeing a concert."

Some students gathered together and spelled K-A-N-Y-E W-E-S-T on their sweat shirts with masking tape. Others wore T-shirts featuring West's controversial post-Hurricane Katrina statement: "Bush doesn't care about black people."

West stopped in the middle of his hourlong set to take questions from the crowd - including one about the grades he earned in high school.

"I didn't do a lot of homework," West answered, to laughter. "But I got a lot of A's and Bs."

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..The Council..
7 Day Theory