Kanye West has hit back at critics who accuse him of using technology in his music to hide his vocal inadequacies - insisting the Auto-Tune device he uses is helping him become a better singer.

West sings with the help of the computer singing aid throughout his forthcoming album 808s and Heartbreak - and he loves the sound of his voice.

His hip-hop rival 50 Cent recently criticised West's reliance on the technology, and others have pointed out Auto-Tune is regularly used by singers with weak voices.

But West insists it actually makes his job harder.

He says, "I get a lot of backlash for using it (Auto-Tune) because it's a tool people use when they can't sing. What it does for me, if I sing off-key, it really points that out. It points out the bad notes. So what I have to do is sing more perfect."