You’ve already noticed it yourself. Kanye West doesn’t smile a lot.

Up until this point, those who care could only speculate on why he’s constantly keeping a straight face in photos. So in case you’ve been looking for an answer, seek no more. While at The Daily Front Row’s Fashion Los Angeles Awards, Kanye revealed the reason why he prefers to keep his smile upside down. He attended the festivities to present an award to the Creative Director of Milk Studios, Mazdack Rassi. During his speech, he shared that he doesn’t show his teeth because of a book from the 1800s he came across while working on Yeezus:

“Back when I was working on Yeezus, I saw this book from the 1800s and it was velvet-covered with brass and everything,” West said. “I looked at all these people’s photos and they look so real and their outfits were incredible and they weren’t smiling and people, you know the paparazzi, always come up to me, ‘Why you not smiling?’ and I think, not smiling makes me smile…When you see paintings in an old castle, people are not smiling cause it just wouldn’t look as cool.”

At least he’s keeps his anti-smiling strategy consistent as the artwork for his latest single with Rihanna and Paul McCartney, “FourFiveSeconds,” indicates.