BRIT Awards presenter Lionel Richie criticised Kanye West for using the N-word during his performance at the prizegiving in London on Wednesday (25Feb15).

The veteran soul star appeared at the show to present the British Single trophy to Mark Ronson, and Richie admits he was stunned by West's performance of his expletive-ridden new track All Day.

West peppered his performance with a number of curse words, prompting Tv bosses to censor large parts of his set from the live broadcast, and Richie has now blasted the rapper for using the N-word several times while on stage.

He tells Britain's Daily Mirror newspaper, "Am I fan of the N-word? Not coming from the 1960s and '70s. Whereas the new world has embraced it. I don’t think it’s Ok for a black man to use the N-word. I don’t like it – and I am a black man. I don’t think it should be said and become normal... Kanye is giving us the generation shock value. How he carries on for the next 10 years, we will see."