Legendary US rapper Busta Rhymes says he first saw interracial relationships while visiting Preston, Morecambe and Blackpool as a child

Rhymes, whose real name is Trevor George Smith Jr, is known for teaming up with Maria Carey on I Know What You Want, and rapping on Don’t Cha by the Pussycat Dolls.

The 51-year-old grew up in New York, but as a child, his mum would send him and his younger brother to see family members living abroad “so we wouldn’t in the hood finding mischief in Brooklyn.”

Aunt in Morecambe

In the early 80s he spent two summers living with his aunt in Morecambe and attended Skerton Community High School while he was staying in the area, as well as a local karate group.

Last week Busta spoke to BBC 1Extra’s breakfast show about that time in his life.

Presenter Nadia Jae said: “Can we claim you, Busta? You’ve schooled here, you’ve schooled in the UK!”

Busta said: “Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, that’s a fact.

"I learned how to smoke cigarettes here, I learned about interracial relationships here.

"Yeah, I’d never seen a white and a black person go together until I came here...When I was 11 years old, that’s the first time I saw that in my life.”

Nadia said: “In Lancashire? That’s crazy.”

He replied: “In Lancashire, in Morecambe, in Preston, in Blackpool.”

He added: “Yo, it was a culture shock for me, in an incredible way”.

The revelation has been met with pride by Lancastrians on social media, and others commented that he pronounces place names with a Lancashire accent.