26-year-old Tahliah Debrett Barnett, or better known as her stage name, FKA Twigs, is the perfect embodiment of an independent and self-made woman.
“If someone’s stupid or someone’s mean, I’m just like, OK, love and light, go what you need to do, I’m busy! It feels amazing to be this way.”
FKA started out as a dancer, starting her professional career as young as 13. She eventually moved to London at 17, where she could really work on her dancing career, starring in music videos for artists such as Kylie Minogue, Ed Sheeran, and Taio Cruz, and also working as a back up dancer for Jessie J in both her “Do It Like A Dude,” and “Price Tag” videos.
“I feel like I know exactly what I want, and no one can tell me to do anything I don’t want to do or pose in a way I don’t like or make a song or write something I don’t want to. I guess I got to the point where it’s all me, and only I am to blame, and that feels really great. And if something goes wrong, I am to blame as well—it was my stupid decision, you know what I mean? It feels great! To know that everything is of yourself. Every single decision that I’ve made to become the artist that I’ve become is because I really know what I want, I’m really ambitious, and I really want to be in charge of everything creatively.”
FKA began her career as a musician as a young girl as well, and she began to make music in youth clubs at age 16. By December 4th, 2012, FKA self-released her first music debut on Bandcamp, EP-1, along with a video for each song on YouTube, produced by herself. In August of 2013, FKA released her self-produced music video and first single, “Water Me” on YouTube. Following this, The Guardian featured FKA twigs for their “New Band of the Day” feature, describing her as “The UK’s best example to date of ethereal, twisted R&B,” in August of 2013. This lead to her release of EP-2 (which “Water Me” was featured on), in September of 2013, and the album went on to receive an 8/10 rating from Pitchfork. Once again, this album was produced by herself and Arca (also a producer), but this time it was released through Young Turks record label. In December of 2013, she was nominated for the BBC’s Sound of 2014 prize, chosen by Spotify for their Spotlight on 2014 list, and also featured on Billboard ’s 14 Artists to Watch in 2014. In August of 2014, Twig’s debut album, LP1 was released through Young Turks, with “Two Weeks” as the lead single, “Pendulum” as the second, and “Video Girl” as the third. FKA Twigs also produced this album herself, but included collaborations with several producers, including Arca, Emile Haynie, Devonté Hynes, Paul Epworth and Clams Casino. The album captured the attention of critics right away, being nominated for the Mercury Prize in 2014 and the Best Recording Package award at the Grammy’s in 2015.
“I thought to myself, that’s very interesting, because what makes me a woman is when I know I’ve produced a song myself—when I’ve found an artist to work with, given him a beat to work on and told him what I wanted, and he’s given it back to me and it’s what I’d envisioned as a producer. Or when I’ve made a video and released it into the world. That’s what makes me feel like a woman. Like, f*ck anything else—f*ck how tall I am or how long my hair is!”
FKA Twigs is not only admirable for her self-production and self-made music career, but also for her personality and views on the meaning of being a woman. In her interview with Rookie Mag, she offered a lot of insight on body image, beauty standards, racial identity, and creativity.
“Something else I’ve learned, though, is that you can’t please everybody. Not everyone is gonna find you attractive! I’m not the most beautiful girl in the world—I’m just not, and I’m never gonna be, and I don’t even know how to help you with that! I’m small, and my eyes are too far apart, and I’ve got two weird front teeth.”
“Yes. I want everyone to know it’s not real. But even on my Instagram, people will say “Oh my god, ILY Twigs, you’re so perfect, I wish I could be you.” I tell them that I’m not perfect, it’s not true. I hate the way young girls think sometimes, it’s so depressing. They’ll write, “Why can’t I look like FKA Twigs?” I’m just like, no, you don’t understand—I cried in the mirror as a teenager.”
You can check out the rest of the interview, here: http://www.rookiemag.com/2014/10/fka-twigs-interview/
And the music video for “Water Me,” here: