The Twigs had a magical career, coming out on the pop scene a decade ago with operatic vocal adaptations, concept videos and futuristic instruments. In 2014, the New Yorker magazine said that “she has been dressed as a high fashion model since antiquity, but her songs promise very modern pleasures of texture and emotional immediacy.” Since then, he has released many famous albums and is considered a pioneer in pop, R&B and Afrofuturism. Subscribe to our Inside Saturday newsletter for an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the magazine’s biggest features, as well as a comprehensive list of our weekly snapshots But her journey was not just about art and reverence. He was racistly abused by Twilight fans while dating Robert Pattinson. He has suffered from fibroids. and in December 2020 filed a lawsuit against Shia LaBeouf’s ex-partner, accusing the actress of physical, emotional and mental abuse that led her to PTSD. Nevertheless, the twigs always came out to fight. Her latest work, a mix of party songs called Caprisongs, was created with good vibes in mind and took place during the lockdown, an experience that was both challenging and liberating. “It made me think in different ways, it made me make different music, it made me evolve as an artist.” When the branches first appeared, the celestial vocals and her conceptual productions saw her compared to Tricky, Kate Bush and Björk. Despite the rich discography, a Grammy nomination and a British fashion award, the branches seem to graft just as well as someone starting. He won the NME Godlike Genius Award for 2022 and put on a theatrical performance at the ceremony earlier this month, wearing a huge silver alien-butterfly costume with wings. A few hours before we scheduled to meet, I was told that I should prepare to travel by car with her, as she may need to go to the studio during the conversation. Is he resting? “No,” he says raw. “If the color of my skin means I have to try harder, I’ll do it,” says twigs. Photo: Aidan Zamiri / The Guardian When we sit together, her gaze is strong, an intense, strange visual contact. Her body language bounces between still and moving. When she speaks passionately, she gestures with her hands and shifts her body up and down. But otherwise she is calm and focused. It’s a cold Monday afternoon and we are sitting at her PR office in Mayfair. The room is professional and without characters, but this gentle setting makes the branches look more majestic. Her hair is twisted into bright blonde hair and a large ring light illuminates her face with a soft glow as she drinks a cup of coffee. She tells me that she embraces her furious schedule. “I always put a lot of pressure on myself,” he says. “I do not know if this will change as I grow up or start a family, but right now, my destiny and purpose is to meet the challenge.” She has spoken in the past about the pressure to be 10 times better than her white peers in order to stand out. that he could never get away with standing up and singing in front of a microphone and “hitting some cute chords on a guitar… I have to dance on the pole, upside down, wield a sword, direct, produce” . Even when it comes to fashion, it rarely relaxes. It’s hard to find a photo with twigs that does not look like it just came off the catwalk. She is dressed more casual for our conversation, wearing a light sweater and some jewelry, but she still looks unusual. It can be extremely difficult for black women to thrive in the music industry. Black women with darker skin have far more prejudices than those of lighter shades, but the branch also believes that it should be above average and be the epitome of excellence. “If the color of my skin means I have to try harder, you know what, I do not care. Will do it. Every time. I will do it until I turn blue on the face. Because that is my purpose. It is not always fair. But guess what? “Life is not fair”, he claims, without stopping for air. Twigs was born Tahliah Debrett Barnett in 1988 in Cheltenham to an English / Spanish mother and a Jamaican father. She was also raised by a “jazz fanatic” father Bajan. “How is Leeds?” he asks me with rolled eyes. Assuming she asks what it’s like to be Black in Leeds, I tell her that, paradoxically, I had a darker experience in the north than I had ever lived in London. “I definitely understand what you’re saying,” he says. “As a teenager, I started taking the bus to Gloucester to be around people from the same culture as me. “I have never had such an intense experience in West India as in Gloucester.” Twigs refers to herself as a “scholarship kid”, having received a scholarship to attend a universal private school. “I was incredibly well educated,” he says. “I went to a beautiful school with beautiful places.” Those years were formative for her. That was when she used her artistic skills and took opera and ballet lessons. However, she does not keep in touch with her school friends. “There is no beef with anyone,” he says. “But at the same time, with love, I have to leave it in the past. Mocking my hair or telling me it’s greasy or that it smells funny because I put a product in it – that’s racist. And they were even some of my best friends. It made it very difficult for me. “I did not feel I could be myself.” The irony of the branches that feel that the color of her hair or skin was not “normal” is that her appearance is now very fashionable. When she started, she wore long braids, intricate patterns and gel curls – hairstyles that are seen on the streets of Brixton or the Bronx, but not often on the red carpet. Rap superstar Nicki Minaj called her an idol in a recent interview: “I remember before the trend in baby hair became the trend, FKA twigs were in this mess.” Dress: Erdem. Styling: Matthew Josephs. Hair: Louis Silvestre. Makeup: Lauren Reynolds for Pat McGrath Labs. Nails: Liga Tukmane in Carol Hayes Management. Photo: Aidan Zamiri / The Guardian A new Caprisongs song, Papi Bones, shows her pride in her Caribbean roots. “Truth stay, aura never more true”, he sings in an intense dance rhythm. Traveling to Jamaica has helped her connect with her heritage. Her grandparents, now in their 90s and living in Manchester, Jamaica, are her muses. “They are still together and they have this cheeky romance,” he says. “There is a romance in Caribbean culture that people do not always think about in the first place. You can go out to a club in West India and you can dance with someone for a song and it can be so intimate and amazing. At that moment, you are lovers. It means everything, but it means nothing. “ Twigs moved to south London at the age of 17 to pursue a career as a dancer. He attended Brit School and then transferred to Croydon College to study fine arts. A concert as a cabaret dancer in an underground circus gave her confidence. He continued to dance to music videos for Kylie Minogue, Jessie J and even Peter Andre, even though he hated it. Speaking to the Observer in 2014, he said: “Do you think I want to be dressed as a puppet?” He also worked selling bars in a bar for a while, but was spotted on a night out by photographer Matthew Stone that changed things. He ended up shooting her for the cover of iD magazine in 2012, and the same year he started recording music, releasing her first release, EP1, independently. It was her first album, LP1 of 2014, that really broke, with the rich video for the main single Two Weeks, directed by Nabil Elderkin, being nominated for Best Visual Effects and Best Photo at the MTV Video Music Awards 2015 She also started dating Pattinson around this time, which pushed her to the paparazzi spotlight. The couple were together from 2014 to 2017 and during this period the branches experienced horrific racist abuse by Twilight fans. She does not like to talk in public about the relationship. Who would want to relive such a trauma, caused by strangers, over and over again? Before she became famous, the branches ended up becoming friends with artist Tracey Emin after a chance meeting on the street. “I was 20. I went to her. I was like, “My God. I’m your biggest fan. I wrote a song for your work My Bed. ” The two exchanged email addresses and wrote back and forth for months. “She was really kind. It was a big deal for me. “ He thought a lot about Emin during the lockdown. “I sent her an email and a voice note,” says twigs, who then plays the audio clip she sent to Emin’s Instagram account. It only takes a few seconds, but in this, branches, assuming that Emin does not realize who she is, honestly exposes herself as the young singer to whom the artist spoke “many months ago”. Emin has not yet responded to the messages. “Maybe he does not approve,” laughs twigs. “She is busy. She lives her own life. I respect that. “ Photo: Aidan Zamiri / The Guardian Is it difficult to form genuine relationships and maintain friendships now that she is famous? “Many of the friends I have, I have had for a long time” …
