“**** alternative R&B!” FKA Twigs told UK newspaper The Guardian last month. The popstar was clearly distressed by the journalist’s question of how she felt about constant comparison to other “alt R&B” singers such as Banks and Kelela, insisting that her music has more in common with “punk” than it does the neo-generic term that’s been applied to any 2010s R&B-related music that indie publications feel comfortable writing about.
"When I first released music and no one knew what I looked like, I would read comments like: 'I've never heard anything like this before, it's not in a genre,'” she continued. “And then my picture came out six months later, now she's an R&B singer. I share certain sonic threads with classical music; my song “Preface” is like a hymn. So let's talk about that. If I was white and blonde and said I went to church all the time, you'd be talking about the 'choral aspect'. But you're not talking about that because I'm a mixed-race girl from south London."
“Alternative” or “experimental R&B” is a term that needs to die, and that’s why I cheered when I read these words from Twigs. It’s not a genre, but more like a door to condescension. By adding the prefix, it sidelines R&B itself by implying it’s not experimental, boundary-pushing or intellectual. It throws side-eye at the genre, while at the same time claiming to have discovered something worthy within it. To call someone “alternative R&B” is pretty much the ultimate musical negging: it feels like it’s not so far away from saying, “This is innovative… for R&B.”
"If I was white and blonde and said I went to church all the time, you'd be talking about the 'choral aspect'. But you're not talking about that because I'm a mixed-race girl from south London."
Sorry but I had no idea what FKA Twigs looked like when I first heard "Two Weeks" and I instantly labeled it as Alternative R&B. It's definitely not experimental because it's been done many times before. I see she is trying to pretend she created this style and it doesn't sit well with me.
People in here acting as if she is only "Alternative R&B". LP1 crosses genre lines numerous times throughout and has many different musical influences.
Sorry but I had no idea what FKA Twigs looked like when I first heard "Two Weeks" and I instantly labeled it as Alternative R&B. It's definitely not experimental because it's been done many times before. I see she is trying to pretend she created this style and it doesn't sit well with me.
I agree. And she comes off as extremely pretentious. Her personality is quite off-putting.