Tinashe Kachingwe says 'proud of Zimbabwean roots' after Twitter attacks

Singer Tinashe, seeking to draw a line under an internet row about her citizenship, has declared that she is PROUD about her "Zimbabwean roots".

Tinashe found herself in the middle of a Twitter storm after replying, "My dad is!" when asked: "Is it true you're from Zimbabwe?"

To her increasing bemusement, she found herself under attack by some Zimbabweans who said she felt ashamed of her links with Zimbabwe.

The 26-year-old R&B star born in Lexington, Kentucky, to a Zimbabwean father and a Norwegian mother, insisted that her response had been deliberately misinterpreted by people bent on trolling her.

Under Zimbabwean law, she has automatic citizenship by descent, while by virtue of being born in the United States she also acquired that country's citizenship.

She clarified: "I think this is all a biiiiiig miscommunication. Lol … I am not ashamed of my Zim roots at all, in fact I'm super proud!"

The '2 On' star who featured on Britney Spears' Slumber Party was born Tinashe Jorgensen Kachingwe, and adopted her first name as a stage name. Tinashe means "We are with God" in her father's native Shona language.