One of music’s original thinkers, Grace Jones, throws a whole lot of shade at her copycats, clones and imitators, in her highly anticipated memoir I’ll Never Write My Memoirs.
“I come from the underground. I am never comfortable in the middle of the stream, flowing in the same direction as everyone else. I think people assume that’s where I want to be, famous for being famous, because as part of what I do there is a high level of showing off. But my instinct is always to resist the pull of the obvious. It’s not easy,” Jones said of her rise to fame.
And while it’s no secret that stars like Beyoncé, Miley Cyrus, Madonna, and Rihanna have channeled Jones throughout the years, the 67-year-old icon called them out saying “Trends come along and people say, ‘Follow that trend.’ There’s a lot of that around at the moment: ‘Be like Sasha Fierce. Be like Miley Cyrus. Be like Rihanna. Be like Lady Gaga. Be like Rita Ora and Sia. Be like Madonna.’ I cannot be like them — except to the extent that they are already being like me.”
Don’t assume however, that Jones was ever compensated for her influence. She did it for the excitement. Not the fame. “I have been so copied by those people who have made fortunes that people assume I am that rich. But I did things for the excitement, the dare, the fact that it was new, not for the money, and too many times I was the first, not the beneficiary,” she added.
But don’t call her a diva. “The word is usually used to describe an apparently erratic female whose temperamental qualities, survival instincts, and dedication to perfection are seen as weaknesses, as self-indulgent, not a strength,” she wrote. “… I am not a diva. I am a Jones!” she said in an excerpt published by Time Out.
Jones’ memoir follows on the heels of her performance at Brooklyn’s Afropunk festival, where she rocked the stage topless, in body paint, similar to that of the late prolific pop/graffiti artist Keith Haring. Just another ordinary day for the artist who has pushed boundaries her entire career. We assume her tell-all, due out Sept. 29, will continue to do just that.
