FKA Twigs
FKA Twigs performs at the Hackney Empire in London Getty

Singer-songwriter FKA Twigs has spoken out about the "awful" trappings of fame and the increased media attention associated with dating Hollywood heartthrob Robert Pattinson.

"It's really hard — I can't begin to explain how awful it is," she told the New York Times on Friday (15 May). "It makes you want to just stop everything sometimes. It makes you want to smash your face into the mirror."

The biracial singer says that worst of all are the racial insults on social media, some of which come from die-hard fans of the Twilight star.

"It's relentless," she said. "There's no amount of songs I can sing or dances I can dance that will prove to them I'm not a monkey."

"I didn't see my life going this way at all," she told the NYT. "But it's worth it. I'm so happy."

FKA Twigs, whose real name is Tahliah Barnett, also spoke about her love for Pattinson and the dark side of media exposure during an interview with The Guardian's magazine, The Observer, in December.

"That side of my life [the paparazzi] is nothing to do with me. That's, like… That is the… side of life of the man that I love, she said.

"And… when that started happening I had to… Because that is the opposite of who I am as a person, and it was weird… Then I had to sit back and have a conversation with myself and I had to say: that is something really horrible. No, not horrible, I don't find it horrible, it's something that's very challenging.

She went on: "I look uncomfortable because I am uncomfortable. But then it's, like, is this person in my life worth that? And he is, without question. Do you know what I mean? In comparison to how happy I am. And how I feel with him. It's 100% worth it."

In any case, FKA Twigs, 27, hasn't let the press intrusion and online bullying stem her rise to the top, having written and produced two EPs and gained widespread critical acclaim for her first album, LP1, as well as directing, choreographing and starring in a series of eye-catching music videos.

Congregata, a two hour performance combining her songs with a decade's worth of dance influences, kicks off a sold-out run later today (17 May) in Brooklyn, New York.