From dancing in the background of pop videos and learning to pole dance while working in a Soho gentlemen’s club, Tahliah Barnett became FKA Twigs, one of the most vital and fiercely independent voices of her era. A classically trained ballet and opera student from a quiet English spa town, she synthesized wildly contradictory worlds into pristine avant-pop.

We explore how she fought the lazy R&B label critics slapped on her music, transmuted profound trauma into the acclaimed album Magdalene, and battled for autonomy over her body, image and digital likeness. From forcing a UK censorship board to reverse a ban to demonstrating a deepfake of herself before the US Senate, this is a story of relentless self-reclamation.

• Her mixed heritage, classical training, and the many disciplines she synthesized
• Why she rejected the R&B label and the punk and industrial influences critics missed
• Turning fibroid surgery, public abuse and a lawsuit into the technical virtuosity of Magdalene
• Reversing the Calvin Klein ad ban and testifying to the Senate about AI and deepfakes
• Winning Best Dance Electronic album at the 2026 Grammys for Eusexua