FKA twigs
FKA twigs
Tahliah Debrett Barnett, known by the stage name FKA Twigs, is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, director and dancer. She became a backup dancer after moving to London when she was 17 years old. Barnett first entered the music industry with the release of her extended plays EP1and EP2. Her debut studio album LP1and third extended play M3LL155Xwere released to critical acclaim, the first of which peaked at number 16 on the UK Albums Chart and number 30 on...
NationalityBritish
ProfessionPop Singer
Date of Birth16 January 1988
CityGloucestershire, England
Twigs has been my nickname for years, and I guess a lot of people close to me called me Twigs, like, as a nickname. Before I even did dancing properly or anything, like, substantially creative, I was still Twigs.
Obviously I know if you're putting yourself out there, saying, 'Hey! Listen to my music!,' with pictures of yourself in the magazines, then people are going to judge you. 'I hate her music. I hate her hair. I hate her production. I hate her videos.' Fine: don't care. That's the great thing about art: it's not for everyone.
Half of my life, I've had people staring at me because they think I'm funny-looking and ugly. The other half of my life, I've had people staring at me because they think I'm fascinating. Everything neutralises. It's more of a statement on society and how weird it is.
Being a gal, people can be a bit patronizing. 'Oh, look at you using the computer.' They would never say that to a boy. And I don't let them do it to me.
I'm appealing to people who want something different, but the world, on the whole, doesn't really embrace different things. Not on the whole.
I love things that are harsh and things that are too loud. And I love lulling people into a false sense of security. That's life.
I feel confident that the work I've put in will make people see me as a music artist before anything else.
I want people to see what's inside my head rather than just looking at me.
I really enjoy the fun of putting something out and people liking it or hating it or talking about it, but vacuous attention, it feels disgusting. It's like a hangover.
When I first put out music, people didn't know what I looked like. They called it a new type of something, they couldn't put a genre on it - it was where indie and urban kind of meet in the middle. I thought that was quite exciting.
Half of my life I’ve had people staring at me because they think I’m funny-looking and ugly. The other half of my life I’ve had people staring at me because they think I’m fascinating. Everything neutralises
I've never been into the typical R&B voice, with runs and bluesy sounding words. That doesn't suit me.
You have to recognize at some point that even though you have the passion and creative level to be able to do something, you might have to do a lot of prep. Sometimes you just can't do it as quickly as you want to do it.
When I was younger, I had conversations with friends about wanting to create something different. Every young musician probably thinks that. But it's difficult to do, because there are only so many words, notes, melodies, songs. But as soon as I stopped thinking and started feeling, it worked. I didn't realize it till I was done.