Rapper Kanye West, who has come under heavy criticism after he kicked off his 'Yeezus Tour' in Seattle, USA, Saturday night with a Jesus look-alike on stage, says the act was inspired by a pastor.

Kanye brought a man dressed in robes and looking like Jesus Christ on stage and on seeing 'Jesus', he burst out and shouted, "[White] Jesus is that you? I've been looking for you my whole life...'mehn'."

The Jesus look-alike responded, "But I've found you..." to which Kanye West then said, "Oh sh*t I can't believe it, I mean fu*k...Jesus...oh sh*t"

The 36-year-old rapper speaking in an interview with San Francisco-based radio station, Wild 94.9, explained that, the act was inspired by an advice he received from a pastor who happens to be his friend.

"I had a friend of mine that is a pastor and we were discussing how we were going to deliver it. My girl even asked afterwards 'isn't that weird if Jesus comes on stage or something like that?'", the 'Jesus Walks' hit singer explained.

According to him, "We do plays all the time where people play Jesus. What's awesome about Christianity is that we are allowed to portray God. We're allowed to draw an image of Him. We're allowed to make movies about Him."

"Other religions you can't do that. Michelangelo did it...It's a painting, it's a sculpture, it's a moving opera, it's a play, it's a message. I'm not even going to do any comparisons with that. God knows where my heart is at," Kanye West concluded.