FEATURE:
meta angel
PHOTO CREDIT: orograph for NME
a few weeks back, I wanted to reflect on the Godlike Genius honour FKA twigs won at the BandLab NME Awards. I am going to bring in a couple of fairly recent interviews with her, in addition to ending with a playlist of some of her best tracks. Even though I have included her in Modern Heroines and covered her in the context of someone who will be an icon soon enough, the award win in London earlier this month seems to confirm that she has already reached that level. In terms of the importance of her music and pioneering talent, she has been elevated to deified heights. Before moving on, NME looked back at a night when Soul II Soul legend Jazzie B introduced and acknowledged a modern-day genius:
“Jazzie B spoke to NME from the winner’s room at the awards show held March 2 at O2 Academy Brixton. It was his first time ever attending the Awards, which he joked, on the red carpet, made him “an NME virgin”.
At 34, FKA Twigs is the youngest person to ever be crowned Godlike Genius, and also the first Black woman to receive the honour. Jazzie B was effusive about Twigs’ talent. “Her innovation is incredible. It’s off the Richter scale,” he told NME.
He continued: “I know her and the efforts and hard work she puts into what she does. She deserves that Genius Award. A person that young that talented and so driven – it’s interesting to watch that evolve in today’s very fickle, even more so than my day.”
Jazzie B praised FKA Twigs’ “almost thespian-like” approach to art, “because she almost consumes everything that she [then] oozes, which is very rare for a musical artist these days. It’s often a lot short-lived, and not as deep and hasn’t had the textures and depth.
“But I find with Twigs, she does – she goes to the limits. She really forces the envelope. And it’s so wonderful for her to be from the UK with this level of innovation. [She] truly has my support all the way 100 per cent.”
He added: “There’s still so much more to come. And you know, we should really truly in Britain be super proud of Twigs.” Watch Jazzie B’s full winner’s room interview above – and his red carpet chat with NME below.
FKA Twigs proved why she was a Godlike Genius with a surprise performance at the BandLab NME Awards 2022, taking to the stage with her dancers for an ethereal rendition of ‘Meta Angel’ and ‘Tears In The Club’, both from ‘Caprisongs’ – which was nominated for Best Mixtape. ‘Tears In The Club’, which features The Weeknd, got a nod for Best Collaboration.
Before presenting Godlike Genius to FKA Twigs, Jazzie B said on the podium: “This is a young lady at the very top of her game. You’re blessed baby, you truly are blessed.”
FKA Twigs accepted the trophy with a moving speech. “I don’t know a godlike genius but it’s a godlike strength to carry on throughout difficult times, the personal experiences, through world experience, the hardest thing to do is to keep going,” she said. Watch it above”.
Following two successful and remarkable albums – 2014’s LP1 and 2019’s MAGDALENE -, twigs released the phenomenal mixtape, CAPRISONGS, earlier in the year. Her first mixtape, it was a chance for her to diversify in terms of format and sound – the mixtape includes interludes and has a more conceptual and conversational arc to it. On the mixtape, FKA twigs (Tahliah Barnett) is joined by a number of writers and producers. It is a busy and eclectic project that was recorded between Hackney, Los Angeles, New York and Jamaica. It confirms her status as one of the world’s most important and inspired talents. Before coming onto an interview where twigs discussed CAPRISONGS and astrology, NME chatted to her as they conferred the Godlike Genius award on her (it was conducted the day she found out; the ceremony came later). Learning more about FKA twigs’ personal life, development and past work contextualises her new work and reveals more about a fascinating, strong and hugely accomplished artist:
“When ‘LP1’ landed in 2014, it marked the crystalisation of FKA Twigs’ remarkable artistic visions: glistening, slippery, futuristic R&B music co-produced with fellow left-field pop architects including Arca, Sampha and Dev Hynes. It also heightened the beguiling mystique she had seemingly cultivated from the start.
Arriving in 2019, more than five years after ‘LP1’, Twigs’ second album ‘Magdalene’ was a panoramic art-pop masterpiece rooted in pain, heartbreak and, above all, recovery. “And I don’t want to have to share our love,” Twigs sings on ‘Cellophane’, presumably alluding to her high-profile relationship with Robert Pattinson which ended in 2017.
Last year, Twigs revealed on Louis Theroux’s Grounded podcast that she was targeted by racist trolls while she and Pattinson were dating. “People just called me the most hurtful and ignorant and horrible names on the planet,” she said. “He was their white Prince Charming and they considered he should be with someone white and blonde.”
Twigs first realised her own strength when she moved from sleepy Gloucestershire to buzzing south London as a 17-year-old. “I was like, ‘Oh, wow – I’m so resilient! You can drop me anywhere and I’ll be OK – like a cat,” she says.
She took solo trips to New York, Paris, Berlin and LA “maybe twice a year” and always met people she connected with. When she was 21, she was so fascinated by a documentary about krumpers – US street dancers – in clown makeup that she flew to LA to track them down. “This was like pre-internet, before Uber, so I got on a bus to Inglewood by myself, walked around the streets and asked people where the krumpers were,” she recalls. “And I found them.”
On ‘Darjeeling’, a ‘Caprisongs’ bop that cleverly borrows from Olive’s ’00s Eurodance banger ‘You’re Not Alone’, she namechecks Croydon College, where she did her A-levels, and credits London with “diallin’ my confidence up / About my hair and my skin”. Last year, in an interview for The Face, Twigs, the daughter of a Spanish mother and Jamaican father, told I May Destroy You’s Michaela Coel that she “100 per cent” has memories of experiencing racism and feeling othered as a child. “The first day I went to school, someone wouldn’t hold my hand in case the brown came off,” Twigs recalled, heartbreakingly.
So it’s a little surprising, at least initially, to hear her describe her childhood in Cheltenham as “absolutely my secret weapon”. How so? “Because I never take anything for granted,” she replies. “I think everything in culture is absolutely incredible. Always. All the time.” Twigs makes her voice go high-pitched in a parody of excitement: “Oh my God – a new shop just opened and it’s got all these amazing clothes!”
Her guiding principle is an expression she once heard on a documentary: “As an artist, you drink from your own thumb.” “Like, if the inspiration is coming from yourself, if you’re drinking from your own thumb, then your art is always going to feel very honest and authentic and real,” Twigs says. “So that’s how I stay in tune with what I should do next”.
Rather than bring in a review for CAPRISONGS as I would do for other similar features, I want to hear more from FKA Twigs herself. Featuring collaborators such as Pa Salieu, The Weeknd, Shygirl, Dystopia, Rema, Daniel Caesar, Jorja Smith, and Unknown T, twigs spoke with Variety about one of this year’s most remarkable releases:
“With her just-released “Caprisongs” mixtape and a fresh affiliation with a new label, Atlantic, British singer-songwriter-producer FKA Twigs ups the ante on her eerily experimental sound and intimately nuanced lyrics and goes big. That’s not only because the genre-jumbling, multi-octave performer has invited brand-name featured guests such as Jorja Smith and the Weeknd to the party that is “Caprisongs.” Rather, it’s because the Gloucester, U.K.-born artist — real name Tahliah Barnett — is having any kind of party at all.
The bottom line on Twigs has long been that her most ambitious music was deeply emotional and uncompromising. Darkly avant-garde, aggressive and atmospheric, the scorched earth-soul of 2014’s “LP1” and 2019’s “Magdalene” positioned her as a cross between Billie Holiday and Siouxsie and the Banshees produced by Lee Scratch Perry. Incidents with a private life made public (accusations of sexual assault and emotional distress against actor Shia LaBeouf) made it appear that the supercharged sentiment of her music carried over into, or came from, real life. With all of this harsh reality, what may have come off as distanced to some was perhaps a defense mechanism for the sake of self-survival.
Which brings us to “Caprisongs.” While not sunny in an obvious way, FKA Twigs and her co-conspirators – old friends such as Arca, and newer associates like Mike Dean, El Guincho and the Weekend – have created a mixtape filled with bold, blunter melody and open-faced, truth-telling lyrics touched by the smiling spirit of the zodiac. To call it mainstream, as the music has been described going into “Caprisongs’s” release, skirts the fact that it is glowingly theatrical and touched by idiosyncratic new musical expressions such as squeak-rap, hyperpop and Afrobeat. With that, “Caprisongs” is her liveliest, most spirited recording.
Even though “Caprisongs” was made during a challenging time, it’s brighter, more optimistic and less angular than your previous music. How did that happen?
My other projects really touched on personal, very specific things that I’ve gone through in my life. That’s usually how I write. In the pandemic, though, there was a shared adversity, a shared sadness and loss. Because we all lost something on some scale — be it our freedom, our routine, love, a sense of security. I think it was the first time as an artist that I felt the desire to create something for other people. It would be naïve to believe that it made them feel better… but I did want to provide truth, honesty, light and joy to people, to remind them what we had, and are grateful for. Everybody needed support during this time. I certainly had with my friends and family, and I wanted to share that with the world.
Along with “Caprisongs” came news that you’ve partnered with Atlantic Records in the U.S. for “this next exciting phase of [your] art.” What were you looking for in a label?
The pandemic, for me, was a time to really think about what I wanted as an artist. When I went into my career in my youth… look, I’m from a small town in England, Gloucester. When I first got signed I was just grateful to be signed — I wanted to please, to fit in. I was happy just to have a seat at the table. It has taken me this long to think about what I would truly like. I’ve had a beautiful career, and haven’t wanted for much. But I wanted to dream big, to make music around people that look like me, think like me and understand my cultural background more. The ambition that I have — to be a girl from a small town in England, to get to New York when I was 20, it all took ambition. Maybe I wanted to experience that on a bigger level. Don’t get me wrong: Young Records [formerly called Young Turks, which will continue to be her label in the U.K.] is incredible, and we’ve had a beautiful journey, but in my heart, it was time for me to move on in certain aspects: Push myself, dream bigger, have more people experience my art.
Advance word on “Caprisongs” was that it was more mainstream. Were you aiming for a broader audience?
I’ve never really been able to turn pain into joy in the past. I’ve managed it this time, though, so I’ve learned a lot. Many of the lyrics on “Caprisongs” are still sad, definitely not ignoring how I feel and what’s been going on, but I’ve taken rhythms that I really love and tried to approach them in different ways here. The fact that I’m singing opera over some of the tracks says it all. “Caprisongs” is an expression of me returning to a side of myself that I lost over the past several years. I’ve kept who I am away, for the most part. In reality, I am a very funny, goofy person. I was a class clown growing up. Even when I’ve gone through traumatic experiences, my sense of humor gets me through and makes me strong. In that way, “Caprisongs” is about me laughing again, rediscovering that cheeky side of myself”.
It is quite right that the Gloucestershire-born Tahliah Debrett Barnett has been bestowed such a high honour by NME recently. As FKA twigs, she is an artist who has evolved since her debut. A truly unique and amazing artist, she is an inspiration to so many. Having faced quite a lot of personal struggle and some truly awful things, it is encouraging that she has been able to speak about it. In terms of the music, I truly think she is an original and innovator on the same plain as Björk. In terms of going forward, there will be a lot more albums and some huge shows. She will get a Glastonbury headline slot in the coming years and big festival bookings will come. Her fanbase will continue to swell. A remarkable human who is one of the prides of British music, I can imagine her relocating to the U.S. in the future. I think this might afford her more opportunities and convenience when it comes to working alongside big producers and artists. It will be exciting to see how FKA twigs grows and moves in the next few years. CAPRISONGS is a mixtape that everyone needs to spend time with, as it is intimate and accessible at the same time. Moving closer to the Pop mainstream, twigs definitely retains her sonic oddness, originality and personality. It is a typically intriguing and wonderful release from…
A godlike genius.