FKA Twigs: 10 Things You Should Know About UK’s Up and Coming Singer
FKA Twigs is unique in more than just her looks and style, but her creativity is like no other. She dances the fine line between weird and artsy, her music video concepts can be hard to understand. In one video, she’s an Egyptian goddess, in another she’s in bondage. It can be hard to keep up but her talent speaks for itself. Her music may not be your cup of tea but her name is on a lot of people’s lips. I prefer her without the overdone make up, as she’s a beautiful girl. I’ve included one of her best songs (in my opinion) at the bottom that I feel the most people will like. I’ll warn you now, if you’re not into alternative sounding music and open minded, this may not be for you She’s pretty mysterious but we were able to find out a few facts about her.
1. FKA Twigs’ real name is Tahliah Debrett Barnett. She was born January 16, 1988 in Gloucestershire, England. Her father is Jamaican and her mother is English and Spanish. Her mother was a former gymnast and dancer. She didn’t meet her father, who was a jazz dancer until she was 18. She was raised by her mother and stepfather.
2. She attended private Catholic school, St. Edward’s School, Cheltenham, on an academic scholarship. She came from a low-income family.
3. She began pursuing her interest in music at the age of 16, and moved to London at 17 to pursue a dance career. She moved there on her own, sometimes working three or four jobs to support herself. By the time she hit her early 20’s, she was performing as a backup dancer in music videos by Kylie Minogue, Ed Sheeran, Taio Cruz and Jesse J.
4. She earned the name Twigs for the way her joints crack. She added “FKA” to her name when another artist who was also going by the name Twigs complained.
5. FKA Twigs’ genre of music is described as trip hop, experimental, alternative R&B and electronic. She loves experimenting with different sounds. She’s a singer, songwriter, producer, dancer and now a music video director. She sings, plays the keyboards, the synthesizer and the drums. She co-produced every song on her debut album.
6. She self-released her debut, EP1 on Bandcamp on December 4th, 2012. She also filmed a video for each song.
7. She has been awarded BBC’s Sound of 2014 prize and was chosen by Spotify for their Spotlight on 2014 list. She has been featured on Billboard’s 14 Artists to Watch in 2014, she’s Grammy nominated, Brit Award nominated and she has won a YouTube Music Award. She has even directed and starred in an advert for Google Glass.
8. Her early musical influences were Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald and Marvin Gaye.
9. She got her big break at a bondage party, when she met Tic Zogson, an A&R rep at Young Turks record label.
10. She is currently dating Twilight star Robert Pattinson and has been since August 2014. She has been the subject of extensive cyber bullying by diehard Twilight fans.