Nicki Minaj Thanks Taylor Swift For 'Super Bass' Love

21 November 2011, 16:18 | Updated: 21 November 2011, 16:20

She pays tribute to the country singer at the American Music Awards.

Nicki Minaj has explained why she paid tribute to Taylor Swift during her acceptance speech at the American Music Awards (AMAs) over the weekend.

The 'Pink Friday' rapper thanked Taylor for promoting her debut album as she collected the prize for Favourite Rap/Hip-Hop Artist at the ceremony in Los Angeles.

Speaking backstage, Nicki told Access Hollywood: "At one point when 'Pink Friday' was released I wasn't even going to put out 'Super Bass' right away and then she tweeted about it.

"She was like, 'I love this song', and all of her fans went and bought it. She started rapping it and then Selena Gomez started rapping it, and it just became kind of like this little phenomenon.

"I was like, well, I have to thank her because if it wasn't for her just being open and honest about a new song she liked no-one would know… her fanbase would not have known about 'Super Bass'."

Taylor went on to tell her Twitter followers that she had been "blown away" by Nicki's tribute.

Nicki was among the big winners at last night's AMAs alongside Adele and Katy Perry.

You can see the full AMAs winners list and pictures from the ceremony on Capital FM.