Music and fashion legend Grace Jones has criticised some of the biggest pop stars in the world in her new memoir, I'll Never Write My Memoirs.
Jones, who famously declared she would "never write my memoirs" in the song Art Groupie, decided to go back on her promise or else "someone else would".
In an extract published in Time Out, Grace says that she's "never comfortable in the middle of the stream, flowing in the same direction as everyone else" and that she likes to "to resist the pull of the obvious".
She then mentioned stars that were influenced by her: "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".
Grace added that she was asked to collaborate with a younger pop star, "on the list of those who came after me," but refused. "No! It will be good for her; she will draw from everything I have built and add it to her brand, and I will get nothing back except for a little temporary attention."
Speaking about Rihanna, she said: "I don’t even know if she knows that what she’s doing comes from me, but I bet you the people styling her know. They know the history".
Then Grace added that the "problem" with pop stars like the "Nicki Minajes and Mileys" is that "they reach their goal very quickly" and "there is no long-term vision".
"There will always be a replacement coming along very soon – a newer version, a crazier version, a louder version...They dress up as though they are challenging the status quo, but by now, wearing those clothes, pulling those faces, revealing those tattoos and breasts...that is the status quo. You are not off the beaten track, pushing through the thorny undergrowth, finding treasure no one has come across before. You are in the middle of the road".
Grace then went on to mention her 'pupils' in the music world, listing Gaga, Madonna, Annie Lennox, Katy Perry, Rihanna, Miley, Kanye West, and FKA Twigs - offering them this advice:
"This is what I would say to my pupil: you have become only your fame, and left behind most of who you were. How are you going to deal with that? Will you lose that person forever?".