Singer FKA twigs has said she has learned that she does not have to feel “amazing all the time”, particularly as a woman of colour.
The 31-year-old music star also said that, in a world that is “obsessed” with superheroes in films, she has yet to see a female character she can fully identify with.
Discussing her lyric “I’ve never seen a hero like me in a sci-fi” from her song Home With You, FKA twigs told Radio 1’s Future Sounds With Annie Mac: “I think it’s becoming apparent, especially as I get older and as I get to know myself, that it’s OK not to feel amazing all the time.
“It’s OK for me, as a woman of colour, not to feel like a Nubian queen all the time, who’s perfectly sitting on my throne of greatness.
“It’s just not my reality, but yet I know that I’m still perfect the way that I am, and I know that I still can do whatever I want, and I can dream big and I can achieve my dreams and that has nothing to do with my completeness in the moment.”
She added: “I think that’s what I mean by ‘I’ve never seen a hero like me in a sci-fi.’ I haven’t, and now in this age where we’re obsessed with superheroes and all these huge franchises making these amazing big films, I’m yet to see a female character who is beautifully strong and perfect and flawed and is a full range.
“Even our idea of what a pop star is or idea of what a female icon is is often very complete.”
The electronic music and art-pop star said: “I grew up with these amazing women standing there in a sparkly outfit, hair blowing in a wind machine, fist pumping in this moment when they appear on stage.
“That’s amazing and it’s so valid but it’s just not how I am.”
Singer-songwriter FKA twigs, whose real name is Tahliah Debrett Barnett, took part in a session for the radio programme at the BBC’s Maida Vale studios, which were transformed into a 1970s living room, complete with intricate costumes for herself and her band.
She performed her songs Cellophane and Home With You, from her forthcoming second album Magdalene, and a cover of Ella Fitzgerald’s Summertime.
The full interview and session can be heard from 7pm on Wednesday on Radio 1.