Tahliah Debrett Barnett (born 17 January 1988), known professionally as FKA Twigs (stylized as FKA twigs), is an English singer, songwriter, and dancer. Born and raised in
Cheltenham
Cheltenham (), also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a spa town and borough on the edge of the Cotswolds in the county of Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort, following the discovery of mineral s ...
, she became a backup dancer for numerous famous musicians after moving to
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
at the age of 17, and made her own musical debut with ''
EP1'' (2012).
Barnett's debut studio album, ''
LP1'' (2014), reached number 16 on the
UK Albums Chart
The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...
and number 30 on the US
''Billboard'' 200. It was also nominated for that year's
Mercury Prize
The Mercury Prize, formerly called the Mercury Music Prize, is an annual music prize awarded for the best album released in the United Kingdom by a British or Irish act. It was created by Jon Webster and Robert Chandler in association with the B ...
. She then released the EP ''
M3LL155X
''M3LL155X'' (pronounced "Melissa") is the third extended play (EP) by English singer and songwriter FKA Twigs, released on 13 August 2015 by Young. The EP was lauded by music critics after its release and peaked at number 63 on the ''Billboard ...
'' (2015) and took a four-year hiatus, after which she released her second studio album, ''
Magdalene'' (2019). After signing with
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...
, she released the mixtape ''
Caprisongs
''Caprisongs'' (stylised in all caps) is the first mixtape by English singer-songwriter FKA Twigs. It was released on 14 January 2022 through Young and Atlantic Records. The mixtape features guest appearances from Pa Salieu, the Weeknd, Shy ...
'' (2022). Her work has consistently garnered acclaim and has been described as "genre-bending",
drawing on various genres including
electronic music
Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroac ...
,
trip hop
Trip hop (sometimes used synonymously with "downtempo") is a musical genre that originated in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom, especially Bristol. It has been described as a psychedelic music, psychedelic fusion of hip hop music, hip hop ...
,
R&B, and
avant-garde
The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...
.
Early life
Tahliah Debrett Barnett was born in
Cheltenham
Cheltenham (), also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a spa town and borough on the edge of the Cotswolds in the county of Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort, following the discovery of mineral s ...
on 17 January 1988, the only child of an English mother who was a dancer and gymnast and a Jamaican father who was a musician.
Her mother also has Spanish ancestry.
She was raised by her mother and stepfather, whom she described as a "
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...
fanatic of English, Spanish, Jamaican, and Egyptian descent", and did not meet her biological father until she was 18.
Barnett grew up in Cheltenham and later described it as being "kind of in the middle of nowhere".
She attended
St Edward's School, a private co-educational
Catholic school
Catholic schools are pre-primary, primary and secondary educational institutions administered under the aegis or in association with the Catholic Church. , the Catholic Church operates the world's largest religious, non-governmental school syste ...
for ages 11 to 18.
Her education at the school was funded by an
academic scholarship.
From a young age, she undertook opera and ballet lessons and took part in several St Edward's School productions.
At age 16, Barnett started making music in youth clubs.
At age 17, she moved to
South London
South London is the southern part of London, England, south of the River Thames. The region consists of the Districts of England, boroughs, in whole or in part, of London Borough of Bexley, Bexley, London Borough of Bromley, Bromley, London Borou ...
to pursue a career as a dancer, and enrolled at the
BRIT School
The BRIT School is a British performing and creative arts school located in Selhurst, Croydon, England, with a mandate to provide education and vocational training for the performing arts, music, music technology, theatre, musical theatre, danc ...
. After changing her focus from dance to music, she transferred to
Croydon College
Croydon College is a large further and higher education college located in Croydon, within the London Borough of Croydon. Its origins can be traced to a School of Art that was established in 1868, which subsequently merged with Croydon Polytechnic ...
to pursue an education in fine arts.
She worked as a backup dancer in music videos by artists such as
Kylie Minogue
Kylie Ann Minogue (; born 28 May 1968) is an Australian singer, songwriter and actress. She is the highest-selling female Australian artist of all time, having sold over 80 million records worldwide. She has been recognised for reinve ...
,
Plan B
Plan B typically refers to a contingency plan, a plan devised for an outcome other than in the expected plan.
Plan B may also refer to:
* Plan B, a brand name of levonorgestrel, an emergency contraception drug
Film and television
* Plan B En ...
,
Ed Sheeran
Edward Christopher Sheeran (; born 17 February 1991) is an English singer-songwriter. Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk, he began writing songs around the age of eleven. In early 2011, Sheeran independently r ...
,
Taio Cruz
Jacob Taio Cruz (; born Adetayo Ayowale Onile-Ere, 23 April 1980), better known professionally as Taio Cruz (stylized TΛIO CRUZ), is an English singer, songwriter and record producer from London, England, currently based in Los Angeles. In 200 ...
,
Dionne Bromfield
Dionne Julia Bromfield (born 1 February 1996) is a British soul music singer, television presenter and television personality. Her debut album, '' Introducing Dionne Bromfield'', was released in 2009 by Amy Winehouse's Lioness Records label. Sh ...
,
Jessie J
Jessica Ellen Cornish (born 27 March 1988), known professionally as Jessie J, is an English singer. Born and raised in London, she began her career on stage, aged 11, with a role in the West End musical '' Whistle Down the Wind''. She studied ...
, and
Wretch 32
Jermaine Sinclaire Scott (born 9 March 1985), better known by his stage name Wretch 32, is a British rapper, singer and songwriter from Tottenham, North London. He was a member of the grime collective Combination Chain Gang, before forming The M ...
. She was a backup dancer for Jessie J in her 2010 video for "
Do It like a Dude",
and appeared again in her 2011 video for "
Price Tag
A price tag is a label declaring the price of an item for sale. It may be a sticker or attached by twist tie or other means.
Some jurisdictions require items (possibly exceptions for bulk good and produce) to be individually marked with the pri ...
".
She also appeared in the video for
Dionne Bromfield
Dionne Julia Bromfield (born 1 February 1996) is a British soul music singer, television presenter and television personality. Her debut album, '' Introducing Dionne Bromfield'', was released in 2009 by Amy Winehouse's Lioness Records label. Sh ...
's song "
Yeah Right". In 2011, she appeared in a two-minute
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
Wants Groceries'', in which she was a backup dancer in a supermarket.
At age 18, she began working with local record producers to try to find her own musical sound. Around this time, she wrote the song "I'm Your Doll" and ended up producing a lot of what she called "really bad
".
.