This FKA Twigs interview is a few days old, so I’m sorry for not getting to it earlier! I didn’t forget, I just wanted to cover other stuff instead. Which is too bad, because this piece is sort of interesting. As I keep saying, I like FKA Twigs and Robert Pattinson together. I think they’re lovely and interesting. But I do wonder about Twigs in general – she claims she’s not thirsty, even when there’s some evidence to the contrary. Not that I would blame her for wanting attention – she’s worked hard to get where she is, and even when she cops a ‘tude, I still find her interesting. You can read Twigs’ interview with The Guardian here. Some highlights:
She says she’s not a difficult interview: “I’m an artist, and I’m a bit weird, and I’m probably a bit eccentric. But that’s where it ends. I’m really good one-on-one.”
Performing on The Tonight Show: “I struggle with TV a little bit. You’re standing in a spot where other artists have stood a million times before. It’s hard to distinguish yourself. So much could have gone wrong. But I wanted a challenge. I’m at a stage where I want to find things really difficult. Because now, at this point in my career – it’s maybe where some artists sit back on their laurels. Sit back and believe the hype when you haven’t actually done anything yet.”
Is she really all hype? “Oh, I’m nothing. I’m nothing right now. I think it’s easy to sit in this trendy cafe, in a trendy little area of New York, and say ‘Ooh, I’m FKA Twigs’. But outside of these four blocks, does anybody really give a sh-t? Probably not. I’m well aware if I walk down one street in New York, I’ll hear people say: ‘Oh my gad!’ And if I walk down another street: nothing. And those streets are blocks apart from each other. 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.”
Dealing with racist trolls who hate her because she’s with Sparkles: “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. But when it comes to racism, really? In this day and age? Pick that?”
Dealing with the paparazzi: “That side of my life [the paparazzi] is nothing to do with me. That’s, like… That is the… side of life of the man that I love. And… when that started happening I had to… Because that is the opposite of who I am as a person, and it was weird… Then I had to sit back and have a conversation with myself and I had to say: that is something really horrible. No, not horrible, I don’t find it horrible, it’s something that’s very challenging. I look uncomfortable because I am uncomfortable. But then it’s, like, is this person in my life worth that? And he is, without question. Do you know what I mean? In comparison to how happy I am. And how I feel with him. It’s 100% worth it. Does that make sense?”
Dancing in the video for Jessie J’s Price Tag: “I f–king hated it. Do you think I want to be dressed up as a puppet? As a doll, waving? No. But I was paying my dues. I’m sure Jessie had to do rubbish jobs as well before she was where she is now. I was a tiny cog in her wheel. As I’m sure at some point she was a tiny cog in someone else’s wheel.”
Her answer about the Jessie J video is really well-formed – go back and read that. This girl is clever! She managed to say she hated it, she found the “job” questionable and she still managed to defend Jessie J and make it sound like she has no problem with Jessie.
As for the stuff about Sparkles… she calls him “the man that I love.” WHOA. Now I really want to know more about them together. Did he say he loved her first? Did she just drop that love-bomb on him in the interview? Has she met his parents? Are they living together?! Oh, in the interview she says she’s decorating her new London apartment, so she has her own place. But I’m pretty sure she lives with Rob when they’re in LA. Maybe they’ll just do the LA-NYC-London thing for a while. Sigh… young, hipster love.
Here’s her Tonight Show performance from a month ago:
Photos courtesy of WENN and Fame/Flynet.
She comes across really well in this, I liked her answers on the press and also the video, like you said. She manages to say that she didn’t/doesn’t like either situation but she accepts it, its about choices.
I think she’s ambitious rather than thirsty. Nowt wrong widdat.
yeah, sadly ambition isn’t really all that accepted when it comes to women, and usually seen as a negative trait.
it’s the old “men stand up for themselves, women are aggressive b*tches” thing.
total double standard.
She’s totally ambitious and has a great head on her shoulder. I also really enjoy what she’s doing musically. No, she doesn’t have the strongest singing voice, but she has a lot of control and a really unique style.
I just really like her.
+1
Me too Kitten, everything you said, I enjoyed how involved she is in her imagery her music her production, how she projects herself how uncuddly and about hers she comes off in print LOVE this girl
QQ! I just noticed your hair! So cute.
I can see how Rob fell for her. Her performance was fantastic!
Excactly.She worked hard to be successful,nobody gave her anything,only ambition and hard work made her.That interview is great and informative abut her personality and life.She’s ambitious not thirsty.
Awwwww, so cute! I’m really happy for him.
I’ll never not appreciate that booty grab. Get it, Sparkles, get it!
Yeah, that was so unusual of him after his moody I’m-so-private attitude, lol
Seems like genuine affection can’t be kept private, maybe? I also had to laugh at him in workout clothes and choking down fresh juice, that seems out of character for him, too. But cute. If he’s happy, great.
Probably his moody attitude was because of Kristenlipbite Stew.
She gives him additional cool points… I mean, there should be something interesting about him if this girl is in love with him?
He definitely looks cooler with her 🙂
But as a Rob fan I already knew he was quite eclectic and interesting, a musician at heart, and definitely not the Edward/heart throb type in reality. Rob and Twigs are both creative, slightly off center, not afraid to be different. The relationship does seem strange at first glance, since Rob is still known as that Twilight guy. Between Twigs and his Death Grips collaboration, there are some very funny Twitter comments about Rob, most with a WTF type comment- lol – mostly positive though.
@Anname – I read some comments on music sites when the news hit that RP had played guitar on a 2013 Death Grips track. They were really funny and mostly like – whoa, I might have to re-evaluate this guy.
Anyway, just read downthread that he’s been notminated for an Aussie acting award (obviously for The Rover). Who in the gen public would have thought that two years ago?
You are such a loyal fan and so just wanted to send you a smile 🙂
Aw, thanks mia girl – I am smiling at your message!
I enjoy all things Rob, even when he does bizarre stuff, lol. Can’t say I am going to listen to Death Grips for any length of time, but it does make me laugh that Rob is friends with those guys. When random people see that picture of Beyonce, Rob, and Death Grips, their reaction is inevitably amusing.
And it is great news on Rob’s AACTA nomination, his performance deserves some recognition, I agree!
Two years ago Rob’s movie Cosmopolis premiered at Cannes with great reviews also BD part2 made over $830mln at the box office,so it wasn’t that bad for him.
She always sounds like she’s trying to paint herself as the victim of, well, everything. “Oh I’m no one, everybody treats me so badly, I’ve suffered so much, everybody hates me, buaaaaa buaaaa buaaaa”.
What a boring interview. Practice at least one answer that doesn’t involve self-pity.
Oh, please, she’s got (and still getting) a lot of flak recently… she has all the right to defend herself. And she comes off as a person with dignity and self-respect who doesn’t give up easily.
I didn’t get that at all. I got humility and self-awareness.
I didn’t get that, either.
what I took from it is that she’s aware of her “place” in the celebrity world and is OK with it, she understands that, for a lot of people, one has to pay their dues and that success doesn’t happen overnight, and that the paparazzi are part of her life.
“Oh I’m no one” sounds like she knows she isn’t famous (yet). She acknowledges the truth.
The rest is childish and you sound misinformed because all the racist remarks (a massive amount daily because she dares to date RPatz) are very real and she dealt with it by ignoring it for the most part. So who’s complaining?
maybe she’s a Twi-hard on Team Edward.
I know about it, but saying “racism is not acceptable” (true) and constantly repeating you’re nothing no one no one cares oh poor me I get papped but that’s my bf’s live so I’ll have to suffer to be with him blablabla… It’s like a bad Russian romantic tragic novel.
Constantly repeating it? Has she said it more than once or twice? Your definition of Russian romantic tragic novel is very strange.
Asha, she isn’t saying “oh poor me no one cares”.
she’s acknowledging that not everyone knows who she is because people are attracted to different kinds of art/music…that is, she knows that her stuff appeals to some people and not to others.
she also didn’t use the word “suffer”. she said she was uncomfortable with it but that she understands the attention is not for HER but for for her bf and whomever he is dating, and further said that her discomfort was worth it when compared to how she feels about him.
I think you just don’t like this woman. you’re entitled to that opinion, but don’t twist her words to suit your opinion.
@doofus & Annanme:
Agreed. I can’t even be bothered to reply properly to these type of comments smh. You girls have more strength than I have.
Huh, I feel like I read a different interview from whatever you read, because I didn’t get that at all.
What? What article did you read?
I watched the video. Her breathy voice and integration of dance moves with the music reminds me of Kate Bush. The song itself wasn’t very interesting musically though.
It’s nice she can be open and comfortable about their relationship after all the weirdness of Sulky McLipbite.
Again I must ask.. What does he call her when she’s offstage? FKA?
Her name is Tahliah
Her name is Tahliah.
Bingo! Yes, I thought of Kate Bush, too. Immediately. Maybe Kate’s vocals are a bit stronger, but very similar sound and vibe.
Thanks! Is that Tahliah rhymes with Dahlia? Or Tah Lee Ah I wonder.
Kate Bush has a more interesting voice with greater range I think. I also think Kate’s earliest music was phenomenal and a lot more innovative and interesting, Recentlty re listened to her first album — The Man With The Child in his Eyes, Oh To Be In Love, Wuthering Heights still great.
It rhymes with Dahlia – she says her own name in a recorded interview, when she told a cute story of her mom scolding her as a kid.
I decided to watch the video not having been exposed to her before. I did not like it. At All.
That’s the great thing about art, you don’t have to like it, as she says.
She’s pretty cool. Got some substance as opposed to the other pop tartlets out there. She’s young but sage in her answers to some pretty standard questions. Thumbs up here.
She seems nice, but also like a try hard hipster. And she sure is milking this relationship.
How is she milking it? By being upfront and honest? Obviously everyone asks about it all the time, its not like she is posting pics of him on her social network accounts is it?
The thing is she doesnt reveal anything very private, she never mentions his name she just says he is worth the crap she gets and he is the one she loves, its all very positive. I don’t see whats wrong with that?
If you compare that to his ex who played into that whole are they or aren’t they, but then went on to talk about something very private like how he liked to lick her armpits and could only admit she loved him after she had been caught humping a married man in wait for it…. public space… um… well then I think Twigs comes across as the more private one.
Not to mention it looks like Rob is having a more mature relationship this time around. Good for him!
Everything you said, Leah
This
Great post,Leah.
Exactly. Well said.
I liked the interview- she comes across as pretty savvy. Hope she and Rob are having fun.
Apparently they were first introduced when Sienna Miller and Tom Sturridge took Rob to an FKA gigs back in april. They had dated for a few months before they were caught in public.
There was a CDAN’s blind item in May claiming Rob had a girlfriend of two months and he wanted to keep it private & that made her extremely upset http://www.crazydaysandnights.net/2014/07/blind-items-revealed-68.html
Don’t really believe in cdan and that guy has admitted to making stuff up.
But i think they have been together for awhile. I think even People or one of those magazines said they had been dating for a few months when it was first made public.
This is a story from gossip press nobody knows how they met and nobody had asked her or Rob.
Is it a british thing to not say the name of the person you love?
This! It’s all very Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson, isn’t it? Cumberbatch has said it too! Right, then…
I already knew she was sexy and artistic.
In this interview I am also getting that She is smart, self aware and funny.
I think she makes him more interesting. I always thought he seemed like a nice guy but not very interesting.
I also saw he’s been nominated for an acting award, the Australian oscars.
So maybe there is life after twilight for this guy?
I don’t know why but I’m ridiculously happy for him. She seems genuine and is obviously in love and not afraid to show it! I thought his butt grab in front of the paps was so cute, they can’t seem to keep their hands off each other, makes me miss being in a new relationship like that!
@Jess – ITA with everything you said. They both seem to be crazy in love with each other. Good for them!
Yeah they are super adorable together.
I think they have been photographed from the distance,they didn’t see the paps.
I have heard from other female celebs/public figures that their haters always talk about their race /skin color or their body/weight .Rather than first talking about their skills,talent,views,etc
Time Magazine gave her album their pick as best album of 2014.
I could not take my eyes off of those pieces of fabric in the video. It’s like she created a live music video – pretty cool!
This performance is a piece of art, imo… I bet it was not that easy to pull off, all those pieces of fabric could have tangled together or stuck in a fan and she was wearing those high-heeled boots…but she looked so natural and graceful on stage…
Twigs’ body is the truth. Very fit but also very healthy looking. I’m jealous.
I think it’s nice that she publicly declares her love for him as if she’s making up for that public humiliation his previous lover caused.
I go to an art college and she sounds like some of my co-students, you know, the artisté kind.
I like her ambition though. She keeps up with this, she’ll go hella far. Her brand of ‘different’ doesn’t appeal to me at all tho.
Great interview. Smart, well-spoken, and very talented. I really hope they last together!!
I like her work, and her image. She should be careful in this assumption she’s bringing something totally different to music. There’s a pretty long thread under one of her videos concerning ‘old people who find she reminds us of Portishead’, among others.
I haven’t seen/heard any of her music till now, but she really reminds me of Kate Bush.
Yes, she really sounds a lot like Kate Bush.
I’m a diehard Portishead fan and honestly, I never made the comparison.
Beth Gibbons has a haunting, at times howling voice that I find piercingly beautiful. FKA has a breathy, ethereal quality to her voice that I find calming and melancholy.
With all his fame and money would it kill him to take a shower, grab some clothes that were hanging in his closet rather than in a dirty ball on the floor? I hate when he does this. Ugh, I’m just jealous xoxo
I think she has a good grasp of the nature of her fame. Celebrity is such a strange thing. I’m not certain either of my parents know who, for example, Taylor Swift is.
I’m into her. She is like “BOOM, here I am.” So I’m not blaming her for any attention she gets being with him. That “Man I love” thing made my heart of ice melt, for some reason.
Her stuff is crazy weird. Can anyone who knows anything about visual art comment? Apart from that, a little snark: as cute as they both are, both need a good shower.
I can see the Portishead comparison. But she is a much more natural soprano than Beth Gibbons who is a mezzo who sometimes veers into soprano territory. FKA has a natural higher registry. But her ddelivery is Gibbons -esque, as is the ethereal music reminisce t of some Portishead stuff.
she definitely has a 90s bristol England trip hop vibe going on.