Nicki Minaj explains Scary Spice accent

Nicki Minaj says her English accent is a mixture of "Scary Spice" and "Hermione from Harry Potter".

The Trinidadian-born rapper enjoys pretending to be from the UK at times. She has worked hard to perfect her tone and turned to a variety of celebrities for inspiration, including Mel B and Emma Watson.

"There are so many [I model it on], but one person was Scary Spice. I used to listen to her all the time and try to make the same faces she'd make when she was talking. [Hams it up even further] Oh I don't know... [Back into Nicki voice] Oh, and Hermione from Harry Potter!" she laughed to British newspaper The Guardian.

Nicki opened up about other areas of her life, including what she finds terrifying. She has a long-held fear of heights which she blames on a harrowing experience when she was growing up.

"When I was younger, in Trinidad, one of my cousins was really tall and he would pick me up then throw me in the air. I was so scared. I remember thinking, 'I'm a young kid, I'm going to die, why is everyone laughing?' I was three years old," she said.

The star released her first album Pink Friday in 2010 and is getting used to the polarising response her music has. People have been rude to her on Twitter in the past and while she used to react badly, she now doesn't let it get to her.

Nicki worries some up-and-coming stars don't have a true idea of what the business is like.

"It gets tough. I just tell people: don't even come in the business if you think it's going to be peaches and rainbows and unicorns. It's not for the faint of heart. It's for fighters," she warned.