You remember when there was a Beyonce and a Sasha Fierce? FKA twigs has one too. Only, hilariously, hers is called “Melissa”. I don’t know why that’s so funny to me. And she claims it’s not a “weird alter ego” which is maybe why it’s “Melissa”. “Melissa” is the kind of name we gave our imaginary friend when we were kids, right? Or our secret twin that no one would see but us? Mine would change all the time. I think I finally, eventually, settled on “Claudia”.
Anyway, all this is revealed in Complex Magazine’s new cover profile of FKA twigs conducted over three interviews in London, LA, and New York while she was shooting her Glass & Patron video and preparing for her Congregata performances in Brooklyn.
It’s a portrait of an artist – her roots, her beginnings, where she started, how accident and perseverance combined to take her to where she is now. At one point twigs was a youth worker, helping disadvantaged young people through dance and musical expression. That job ended up getting cut, otherwise she might still be at it. These are the kinds of Sliding Doors situations that fascinate me. Like Han Solo used to be a carpenter. Might have stayed a carpenter. That’s how he met George Lucas. He was working at his house, making cabinets!
Anyway, the point they’re trying to make in this piece is that twigs is the legit James Franco. She’s not just a singer, not just a dancer, not just a visual artist. So her creations take on all those forms. Which is abstract in the sense that it’s generally easier for us when we give things one definition instead of 19 of them. To break through to mainstream though, artists often have to sacrifice 18 for the sake of 1 to get noticed. That’s just how the industry works – most of the time. What will be interesting then is to watch how twigs navigates that. And how much she’ll be able to hold on to, especially now that she’s involved with someone who’s benefited so much from that world.
As for Pattinson’s presence in this article – he’s there, he opens the door, literally, and the engagement is on the table, the news just broke when this happens, and it clearly upsets her that it got out; all she’ll say is that she’s happy in the relationship, just not with the sh-t that goes on outside of it.
It’s an interesting read. Click here for more.
Attached – twigs and Pattinson out in LA yesterday.
