No, Sky Ferreira will not be putting on those Zadig & Voltaire gold pants, and no, Sky Ferreira will definitely not be putting on that feathered bustier by the Blonds.
She doesn’t actually say this out loud at her fashion shoot with The Post, but pop music’s latest rebel darling isn’t very good at hiding what she’s thinking. It slips out through those heavy eyes and signature pout.
Perhaps you’ve seen the pout in a CK One fragrance ad, or in an Adidas commercial with Nicki Minaj. Or the photos of her walking Marc Jacobs’ runway. Maybe you’ve seen the provocative shots of her and Miley Cyrus at the latter’s record release party on October 8 — the ones that led to rumors that the two singers were “all over each other.”
Or maybe you recognize Ferreira from her September mug shot, following an upstate arrest for Ecstasy possession.
In any case, get ready to see even more of this buzzworthy model/ singer, who prefers ripped fishnets and grunge flannel to glam fashion.
The 21-year-old is used to sticking up for what she wants. Ahead of the Oct. 29 release of her much-anticipated debut album, “Night Time, My Time,” she explains to The Post how it was a lesson she learned the hard way.
Born in Venice Beach, Calif., she was raised by her grandmother, whom she now refers to her as her mother. Ferreira dropped out of high school after her sophomore year.
In 2007, producers Bloodshy & Avant, who have conjured musical magic for Britney Spears, Madonna and Katy Perry, discovered the singer, then just 15, via her MySpace demos. Capitol Records signed her shortly thereafter. But it wasn’t exactly a fairy tale.
“At first, I thought they signed me to be me,” Ferreira recalls. “I had producers and labels throwing money at me and… introducing me to, like, Rick Rubin. When you’re 16… it’s kind of mind-blowing, you know?”
Ferreira, who admits to being “a really stubborn person,” says she chose Capitol because she thought that’s where she could be herself.
“I ended up choosing my creative freedom, and then I didn’t get it,” she says with a laugh. “They probably thought it was going to be easy to manipulate me because I was 16.”
Despite releasing singles “One” and “Obsession” in 2010, her debut album is just now hitting shelves. After Capitol’s parent company, EMI, was sold to Universal, there was a constant flow of execs with varying opinions about who Ferreira should be. Egos and politics, says the singer, were responsible for the delay.
But last year, Ferreira’s hipster jam “Everything is Embarrassing,” off her second EP, “Ghost,” changed everything. Pitchfork.com named it a “Best New Track” and critics poured on the love.
“After being held back for so long, [the album] can’t just be good,” she says. “I can’t make 20 tracks [just like] ‘Everything is Embarrassing.’ I can’t do what everyone wants me to do just because they want me to do it. It still needs to be honest for me.”
“She showed up to the studio angry and frustrated,” says Justin Raisen, who co-produced the album. “I think the five years she took were worth it because she’s putting out something that she believes in. She never let the man stick it to her.”
The fruit of Ferreira’s stubbornness is “Night Time, My Time,” a mix of indie rock, hazy vocals and kraut pop that’s produced the buzzy lead single, “You’re Not the One.”
But just when it seemed like Ferreira’s moment had come, everything came crashing down. On Sept. 13, days after she had walked in Marc Jacobs’ show during New York Fashion Week, Ferreira and her boyfriend Zachary Cole Smith — frontman for the Brooklyn band DIIV — were arrested while driving to a music festival in upstate New York. Police reports say that after Smith was pulled over for “several vehicle and traffic infractions,” he was found to be in possession of a stolen license plate and 42 decks of heroin. On Ferreira, police said they found Ecstasy, for which she was charged with possession, as well as for resisting arrest. The two were released from the Ulster County Jail on bail.
“I can’t really talk about it because it’s an open case or whatever,” says Ferreira. “But things aren’t really what [they seem].
“I feel like there were a lot of bored people that were really just — I’m not saying everyone’s out to get me — but, like, some people definitely were trying to make an example out of me,” she adds. “Which is kind of annoying. But I know who I am… I’ll own up to whatever I do.”
Another star would have likely put her head down, delayed the album and headed to rehab to let things quiet down.
“Well, I didn’t go to rehab because I don’t have a drug problem,” Ferreira says. “I know some people are going to say, ‘Oh, she’s delusional.’ But no, I don’t have a f—–g drug problem.” Although, she concedes with a laugh, “it would have looked a lot better if I did go to rehab.”
“I just got myself in a stupid, bad situation,” she says. “I just turned 21 years old. Things happen. All I can do is try to make myself a better person… and make sure I don’t end up in something like that again.”
That may prove difficult, though, as the gossip columns are now following her every move. After Ferreira was seen hanging out with Miley Cyrus at the twerk tart’s “Bangerz” album launch party, rumors abounded that the two were more than just friends. “Miley Cyrus: Did She Have Lesbian Hookup With Singer Sky Ferreira?” asked Hollywoodlife.com.
“Wait,” Ferreira says, cracking up. “The most insane s–t has happened this month. So now I’m a lesbian? Miley Cyrus? I mean, it’s funny. But I’m in a very committed relationship.”
The two songstresses are, however, becoming friends, thanks to a thing or two in common.
“[Miley’s] obviously way bigger and all eyes [are] on her, but I feel like we’re kind of going through a similar thing where everyone’s trying to say that we’re trying to make ourselves objects,” says Ferreira. “But really, everyone else is making it more like that — sensationalizing sex and reading into things. It’s nice to have someone that gets it.”
The “sex” she’s referring to is her new album cover, shot by filmmaker Gaspar Noé, which shows her topless.
“There’s nothing about that photo that’s pornographic,” she says. “We came on this earth nude.”
Ferreira is passionate about presenting an honest persona. She’s known for bursting into tears while singing onstage, which she attributes to having started with gospel music at age 7 — something Michael Jackson, a family friend (Ferreira’s grandmother was his hair stylist), encouraged her to take up.
“The rule was: Don’t sing unless you mean it,” she says. “To have a good performance, you need to be vulnerable onstage.”
Recently, Ferreira came upon an old Jackson interview. “He was like, ‘I only sing what I mean,’ ” she says, excitedly. “I was like, ‘Oh my God, that’s where it comes from!’ He is also a perfect example of the media turning on someone and just terrorizing them, which is sad. The good thing is, now everyone remembers how great he is.”
No doubt, Ferreira hopes for the same redemption.