Pitchfork: How did you begin singing?
Twigs: I started writing seriously when I was 16. I grew up in a place called Gloucestershire; my dad is Jamaican, and it had quite a large Jamaican community. There was a youth club there with a low-key studio, and they'd have guys rapping, and I'd put the chorus down on the track. Eventually, people started saying, "You've got a really nice voice, you should start doing your own stuff." I realized that's all I wanted to do for a career by the time I was 18.
Gloucestershire is kind of in the middle of nowhere. I started getting interested in dancing and music because there isn't very much else to do. If you're from a small town, you have to be imaginative, especially if you’re an only child like me-- you make up games in your head.
Pitchfork: Did you ever train as a dancer?
T: I moved to London to go to dance school when I was about 17, but then I realized that I didn't want to be a dancer anymore, so I dropped out after five or six weeks. All I wanted to do was sing and make music. But I still train every single week-- it’s just a part of my life. I do ballet at least once or twice a week, along with contemporary and hip-hop. I’m training with a UK krump group called Wet Wipez. My mom used to be a dancer and a gymnast, she’s part Spanish. When I was younger, she was a salsa dance teacher, and she'd sneak me into salsa nightclubs and put me under the DJ desk.
Pitchfork: It seems like there's a lot of exciting music being made in London right now. Do you feel part of an artistic community?
T: No. I honestly have no idea what's going on. [laughs] I'm a quiet person. During the week, I’m quite simple. I wake up in the morning; I go to ballet; I come back; I maybe make a beat. This year, I’ve just been in the studio a lot. Whenever a new music artist comes out, everyone's always so curious and wants to interview you and put you in this magazine or that magazine, but I didn't want to get distracted. I've been writing for almost 10 years and I just wanted that process to continue where I'm in the studio every single week.
Pitchfork: You've also been on the cover of i-D magazine. Are you at all concerned about being a fashion darling before people know your music?
T: I feel confident that the work I've put in will make people see me as a music artist before anything else. With Young Turks and XL, the music always comes first. But, of course, all these other things are exciting. I was never the pretty girl at school. I'm tiny and mixed-race. I grew up in a white area. I was always the loner. I was always kind of off-- a little weird, wanting to be a ballet dancer or have opera lessons. So being on the cover of i-D is really exciting, but ultimately, the reason why I moved to London and the reason why I've been on this journey is because I really love making music. I can't imagine doing anything else.
Twigs: I started writing seriously when I was 16. I grew up in a place called Gloucestershire; my dad is Jamaican, and it had quite a large Jamaican community. There was a youth club there with a low-key studio, and they'd have guys rapping, and I'd put the chorus down on the track. Eventually, people started saying, "You've got a really nice voice, you should start doing your own stuff." I realized that's all I wanted to do for a career by the time I was 18.
Gloucestershire is kind of in the middle of nowhere. I started getting interested in dancing and music because there isn't very much else to do. If you're from a small town, you have to be imaginative, especially if you’re an only child like me-- you make up games in your head.
Pitchfork: Did you ever train as a dancer?
T: I moved to London to go to dance school when I was about 17, but then I realized that I didn't want to be a dancer anymore, so I dropped out after five or six weeks. All I wanted to do was sing and make music. But I still train every single week-- it’s just a part of my life. I do ballet at least once or twice a week, along with contemporary and hip-hop. I’m training with a UK krump group called Wet Wipez. My mom used to be a dancer and a gymnast, she’s part Spanish. When I was younger, she was a salsa dance teacher, and she'd sneak me into salsa nightclubs and put me under the DJ desk.
Pitchfork: It seems like there's a lot of exciting music being made in London right now. Do you feel part of an artistic community?
T: No. I honestly have no idea what's going on. [laughs] I'm a quiet person. During the week, I’m quite simple. I wake up in the morning; I go to ballet; I come back; I maybe make a beat. This year, I’ve just been in the studio a lot. Whenever a new music artist comes out, everyone's always so curious and wants to interview you and put you in this magazine or that magazine, but I didn't want to get distracted. I've been writing for almost 10 years and I just wanted that process to continue where I'm in the studio every single week.
Pitchfork: You've also been on the cover of i-D magazine. Are you at all concerned about being a fashion darling before people know your music?
T: I feel confident that the work I've put in will make people see me as a music artist before anything else. With Young Turks and XL, the music always comes first. But, of course, all these other things are exciting. I was never the pretty girl at school. I'm tiny and mixed-race. I grew up in a white area. I was always the loner. I was always kind of off-- a little weird, wanting to be a ballet dancer or have opera lessons. So being on the cover of i-D is really exciting, but ultimately, the reason why I moved to London and the reason why I've been on this journey is because I really love making music. I can't imagine doing anything else.
she's black? 
