Kanye West has asked followers on Twitter about the use of the word "b*tch" in music.

The rapper posted a series of messages on the social networking website about whether it can be acceptable to use explicit language.

He asked his fans whether or not words such as b*tch are deemed okay to use if they are utilised in an "endearing" way. He said:

"I usually never tweet questions but I struggle with this so here goes... Is the word B*TCH acceptable. To be more specific, is it acceptable for a man to call a woman a b*tch even if it's endearing? Even typing it in question form it still feels harsh? Has hip hop conditioned us to accept this word? Do we love this word as much as we love the word N***A in an endearing way?"

He added: "Correction, here's the age old question, would we refer to our mothers as b*tches? Would we call our fathers n***ers or better yet N***AS?"