Kanye West has thanked Steve Jobs and Apple for helping to "push" him "everyday".

Kanye West

Kanye West

The 'Yikes' rapper has taken to Twitter to congratulate the technology giants and their late founder - who died in 2011 of pancreatic cancer at the age of 56 - for becoming the first business to be valued at a trillion dollars, and has praised the firm for "inspiring our planet".

Kanye - who gifted his wife Kim Kardashian West thousands of dollars' worth of stocks in Apple last Christmas - wrote: "Steve Jobs you are one of my biggest inspirations and your story spirit and drive helps to push me everyday congratulations on Apple hitting a trillion dollars also congrats to Eddie Q and Johnny Ives and Tim Cook and the entire Apple team ... You guys are so important and what you do is so special and inspiring to our planet Thank you for being so great (sic)"

The 41-year-old producer - who has kids North, five, Saint, two, and six-month-old Chicago with wife Kim - has previously referred to himself as the Steve Jobs of popular culture.

The outspoken star believes he is "undoubtedly" one of the most influential people in the world and likened himself to Jobs because of his power in the music and fashion industries.

He said: "I think what Kanye West is going to mean is something similar to what Steve Jobs means. I am undoubtedly, you know, Steve of Internet, downtown, fashion, culture. Period. By a long jump. I honestly feel that because Steve has passed, you know, it's like when Biggie passed and Jay-Z was allowed to become Jay-Z.

"I've been connected to the most culturally important albums of the past four years, the most influential artists of the past ten years. You have like, Steve Jobs, Walt Disney, Henry Ford, Howard Hughes, Nicolas Ghesquiere, Anna Wintour, David Stern."