Rapper Azealia Banks as spoken out in defence of her use of the word "f*ggot" in an argument with celebrity blogger Perez Hilton.

The rising star of hip-hop had been criticised by Hilton for her tendency to get involved in feuds with other female rappers - and she responded with a tirade of abuse.

He had said: "Some of your music is cute, but your attention-seeking ways are pathetic and hurtful. You drag while others choose to uplift!"

To which she responded: "Whatever bitch, you tried to sign me to ur little bum ass label in '11 with them bulls**t ass artists..."

And she later tweeted: "omg u should just kill yourself... Like for real... lol what a messy f*ggot you are."

She also called him "d**ckbreath" and told him to "gobble a d**k".

But despite her own fans telling her off about the insults, she remained unrepentant.

She wrote: "A f*ggot is not a homosexual male. A f*ggot is any male who acts like a female. There's a BIG difference.

"If u listen to my music and are not offended by the word nigga... We're not gonna go here with this f*ggot s**t... We're just not. Lol."