FEATURE:
Modern Heroines
Part Eighty-Two: WILLOW
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I am always keen to…
PHOTO CREDIT: Dana Trippe
promote and spotlight the strongest and most amazing women in music. In this feature, I nod to those who I feel are going to be icons of the future. In this part, I wanted to spend some time highlighting the amazing WILLOW (Willow Smith). I am going to come to some interviews that Smith has conducted. I think that her latest album, lately I feel EVERYTHING, is stunning. The twenty-one-year-old is the daughter of Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith – though she has forged her own career and not had to rely om her famous parents. WILLOW’s latest album, one of the year’s best, sported notable appearances from Travis Barker, Avril Lavigne, Tierra Whack, Cherry Glazerr, and Ayla Tesler-Mabe. In their review, AllMusic had the following to say:
“Brushing genre boundaries aside once again, multi-hyphenate Willow Smith makes another stylistic pivot on her fourth studio album Lately I Feel Everything. Having excelled on her R&B, pop, and alternative singer/songwriter forays, Willow straps on a guitar for this potent rock blast that bridges pop-punk and '90s alt-rock with an unpolished messiness that is unapologetic, youthful, and a pure thrill. Initially thought to be a purely pop-punk exercise, Lately reveals itself as something more moody and angsty, the cathartic outburst of a young artist letting off some steam in a crazy world where she has to navigate regular human emotions and relationship woes against a backdrop of fame and privilege. Those darker moments -- "Don't Save Me," "Naive," and "Lipstick" being the best of the bunch -- are a time warp to the '90s, when distorted guitars, crunchy riffs, and atmospheric swirls dredged up plenty of anxiety, pain, and confusion. The lush rocker "4ever" links Willow's eras, sounding like an introspective outtake from The 1st backed by a studio band. In addition to guests Ayla Tesler-Mabe, Tierra Whack, and Cherry Glazerr, Willow recruits a pair of famous genre predecessors to inject some cred to this project with their high-profile co-signs. As the go-to drummer for the 2020s crop of pop-punk revivalists (see Yungblud, MGK, and KennyHoopla), Travis Barker lends his trademark delivery on a trio of tracks, including the hit single "Transparent Soul" and album standout "Grow," a bright romp that features pop-punk big sister Avril Lavigne on vocals. That latter track is worth the price of admission alone, but the rest of this brief set is such an unexpected surprise that it's worth the nearly half-hour investment. There seems to be nothing that Willow can't do as she adds rock to her résumé with ease”.
If you have not heard WILLOW’s lately I feel EVERYTHING, I would definitely recommend it. An album with plenty of energy and attitude. There is a great mix of sounds, though the overall tone is anthemic. This is what The Line of Best Fit offered in their assessment:
“An obvious and instinctive departure from the sound on her debut album Ardipithecus (2015), this new offering sees the 20 year old musician collaborate with some of the scene’s biggest stars as she ricochets between apathy and euphoria via raucous guitar riffs and yearning vocals.
Born from a desire to make a record that would allow her to “have fun, be young and not be so existential and worrying all the time,” WILLOW is embracing her enduring love for My Chemical Romance, Paramore and Avril Lavigne and channelling their collective energy. This isn’t an ambiguous, introspective collection of songs that beg for intense analysis. Lately I feel EVERYTHING is a healthy rush of adrenaline designed to blitz away alienation and existential dread - like all quality pop punk albums should.
It helps that WILLOW has collaborated with two of the scene’s biggest stars on this record to achieve this. It's Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker who features heaviest: on introductory emo banger “T r a n s p a r e n t S o u l”, the brief but explosive “Gaslight”, and “Grow” - along with iconic touchstone Avril Lavigne. “Grow” in particular feels like a “full circle” moment for pop punk, three generations of the genre colliding to create a buoyant new anthem for the outcasts.
Like many of her contemporaries, WILLOW isn’t afraid to mix things up within the genre too - doing so alongside the likes of Canadian songwriter Ayla Tesler-Mabe and American rapper Tierra Whack. Ayla’s softer vocals compliment the heavy riffs and yearning lyrics on “Come Home” whilst Tierra’s slick rap verse on “Xtra” give the record a stylish shake up. When pairing with rockers Cherry Glazerr on “Breakout”, WILLOW opts for a more abrasive, garage-punk style - the same going for her solo efforts “Lipstick” and the angsty mini skit “F__k You”.
As carefree as it is frustrated, as playful as it is temperamental, WILLOW’s lately I feel EVERYTHING is a straight up lively hit of jaded emo bangers that will have a new generation of listeners whipping their hair back and forth”.
A strong and inspiring artist, I am utterly compelled by WILLOW and her path. I feel that it is relevant sourcing interviews with her. Before arriving at a recent NME feature, there is an interview with THE FACE, where we learn more about lately I feel EVERYTHING and WILLOW’s (Willow Smith) musical background:
“Lately I Feel EVERYTHING is therefore Willow plunging straight into her mind’s deep sea. “[The album is] a direct response in a way of like, ‘Damn, I don’t want to look at this in a negative way’,” she says. Recording started just after she’d voluntarily locked herself in the box, while involuntarily locked up at home during lockdown. “A lot was happening and I was just,” as per the album’s title, “feeling everything that you could possibly imagine.”
On t r a n s p a r e n t s o u l, “everything that you could possibly imagine” manifests itself as two minutes and 48 seconds of headbanging angst, as she directs cutting digs to the target of her lyrics over emotive pop-punk power chords and Barker’s typically furious drums. On her latest single, Lipstick, her own emotions pull focus over grungier, more metal production, as she looks “at pain like my old close friend.” And on the much-teased, hotly-anticipated Avril Lavigne collab Grow, Willow and the OG sk8er girl deliver the kind of optimistic, upbeat pop-punk that wouldn’t seem out of place in a Bring It On montage scene.
“Travis and Avril know pop-punk more than anyone,” says Willow of the album’s most high-profile features. “To see them be so proficient in their art was just so inspiring. Travis listened to [t r a n s p a r e n t s o u l] one time and played it perfectly. Like, that’s crazy!” She’s in full gush mode now. “The fact that Avril can just do one idea and there’s no questions, that’s what we’re going to do, that’s the most fire… They’re just so in tune and they know it’s going to be great.”
As a teen, Willow soaked in the likes of Paramore, My Chemical Romance and, of course, Avril Lavigne, soundtracking her adolescent angst with the thrashing melodrama of emo. And as a child, she could be found headbanging on the shoulders of security guards at Wicked Wisdom gigs, the 2000s metal band that her mum, Pinkett Smith, founded and fronted.
“They would take me to the back of the venue and I would just put my little horns up,” says Willow, looking back wistfully. Lapping it up in clubs that wouldn’t typically let a 16-year-old in, let alone a small child aged seven, these were the experiences that birthed her inner rockstar. “There were specific moments when I felt like she was just performing to me. It felt so beautiful and so inspiring. I knew that that’s what I wanted to do with my life.”
Yet while her mother’s band has had an undeniable impact on Willow’s musical trajectory, she’s not ready to take on Wicked Wisdom’s genre just yet. She dipped her toes through a touching performance with the band for a Mother’s Day episode of Red Table Talk, the online talk show helmed by the Smith women. Looking as though she’d been plucked straight out of 2004 in a Mastodon raglan top and baggy jeans, Willow performed Wicked Wisdom’s Bleed All Over Me in her garden, as Pinkett Smith watched on, beaming and gently headbanging with pride. But Willow’s official metal era is still waiting in the wings. The stage lights will go up when she’s ready to fully embrace womanhood.
“[Pop-punk and metal] are like sisters. Metal is the mature musician sister and pop-punk is, like, that little sister who was really inspired by their big sister and started playing the guitar but doesn’t spend as much time on it,” she says with a self-deprecating laugh. “I definitely felt like pop-punk spoke to my youthful soul and metal kind of spoke to the woman within me. I’m planning on doing a metal album in the future, but I need to hit that pop-punk steez first.”
“Black people created rock music. But we have been so indoctrinated to believe that we only thrive in certain categ
If Willow’s punk-pop revolution is driven primarily by a genuine love for the music, coming in a close second is her determination to break stereotypes within the industry. You don’t need to be an expert to notice that mainstream rock music has been historically dominated by white men. And you only need to read testimonies from Black women in the industry to understand how hard it was for anyone who looks different to not only break in, but also to persevere and thrive. Jada Pinkett-Smith received death threats while touring with Wicked Wisdom. Alexis Brown, singer of the metalcore band Straight Line Stitch, was heckled by Neo-Nazis. For a long time, rock was a space that some white men felt they owned – and they didn’t like it when their dominance felt threatened.
“I think that a lot has changed and, honestly, even if it hasn’t, I’m just going to continue doing the work,” says Willow of current attitudes. “That’s what I’m here for.” She nonchalantly dismisses the opinions of older rock fans who have directed negativity her way, particularly comments under a video of her playing a System of a Down riff, which the band’s bassist, Shavo Odadjian, reposted on Instagram. “I wish I could understand [them], but because I’m not in their mindset, it’s kind of hard. There’s a reason that me doing this must cause them pain, so I have compassion for that, but I’m not gonna change what I’m doing.”
For Willow, it’s about striking a balance between being defiant in the face of racism while keeping it at a distance. She’s making a statement, not retaliating. “I try not to look too deep into it because I don’t want to get attached to those negative emotions. There’s no reason for me to get attached to them. But I still don’t want to shy away from it.”
The idea that white men ever “owned” rock music is inherently false regardless. As Willow notes, “Sister Rosetta Tharpe was shredding on the electric guitar in the ’40s!”. Little Richard, Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley pioneered the rock ’n’ roll phenomenon of the 1950s (itself deeply rooted in blues music), although they never got quite as much airplay or mainstream acclaim as Elvis Presley.
“Black people created rock music,” says Willow. “But we have been so indoctrinated, so conditioned to believe that we only thrive in certain categories of creativity and entertainment. And that’s just not OK”.
I want to end with an illustrative and fantastic interview that NME conducted recently. One of the most intriguing artists in the world at the moment, WILLOW is someone whose music will continue to evolve and strengthen:
“The artist knows a thing or two about speaking to a global audience. Famous since before she could walk, she soon appeared alongside her dad, rap and big screen megastar Will Smith in Hollywood blockbusters I Am Legend (2007) and Madagascar 2: Escape To Africa (2008) before she released 2010’s global pop-rap hit ‘Whip My Hair’ at the age of nine. The attitude-ridden track was a phenomenon, establishing Willow as a star in her own right – if a little too soon.
Now 11 years later, just like her brother the rapper, actor and viral sensation Jaden Smith, Willow stands fearlessly in the spotlight. As well as boasting a back catalogue of raw, confessional music that dabbles in everything from glitzy art-pop to socially-conscious R&B, she also co-hosts the Red Table Talk – a show that sees her sit down and discuss everything from sexuality and mental health to her own childhood with her mother, the actor and former rockstar Jada Pinkett Smith, and her grandmother Adrienne Banfield-Norris.
Given how comfortable she is speaking on behalf of herself and her generation on the “many historical shifts in the perception of humanity and the zeitgeist”, it’s little wonder Willow has become a Gen Z icon. She even wrote the perfect soundtrack to her status with 2021’s ‘Lately I Feel Everything’, a swaggering alt-rock album that she’s currently bringing to enraptured audiences – next week, she’ll play a one-off show at London’s Electric Ballroom.
Willow admits that it is tough to be vulnerable when she is so exposed. Her battles with self-harm, her run-ins with cyber stalkers and even trivial matters like changes in hairstyle are broadcast online for the whole world to see and judge her by. However, she knows you can’t be a role model if you aren’t seen as human.
“You need to show that life is hard for everyone,” she explains today from a restaurant in Los Angeles. “We’re all going through our own struggles. We’re all trying to figure out the most healthy ways to cope with the parts of ourselves that don’t make us the most comfortable or that are that are scary to us.”
The young star, now 21, knows that other people in her privileged position might shy away from being so open, but as she explains: “Sharing the human experience is what makes life worth it.” Speaking of the media’s constant glare, she admits: “It’s an insane world out there, but you can’t focus on that.”
The record pays homage to ’00s guitar music, but she isn’t afraid to take the genre to new places to speak to where she and the world are at right now. ‘Grow’, her easycore anthem of self-acceptance, features scene legend Avril Lavigne and sees Willow sing: “No one ever truly knows just who they are / And I feel closer knowing I don’t have to hide my scars.” Meanwhile, the slow-burning ‘Naïve’ finds her wide-eyed in the face of political turmoil: “We got shot by rubber bullets at a protest in the Bronx / And I never notice when the night goes sour.” On tracks the thundering ‘Lipstick’ and the dreamy ‘Xtra’, she’s frank about her struggles with mental health.
PHOTO CREDIT: Dana Trippe
Some may have been shocked by former child star Willow Smith returning with a rousing rock album, but she’s always dabbled with heavier music – and teamed up with producer Tyler Cole in 2020 to create side-project The Anxiety. Their self-titled record was a 10-track indie collection that came alongside a 24-hour art installation which saw Willow and Cole lock themselves in a glass box and work through the stages of anxiety: paranoia, rage, sadness, numbness, euphoria, strong interest, compassion and acceptance. Earlier in her career, there was the bass-driven ‘RandomSong’ on ‘Ardipithecus’ while ‘The 1st’ featured ‘Human Leech’, a snarling grunge track.
In fact, Willow’s been a fan of heavy music since childhood. She’d regularly sit side-of-stage, watching her mum Jada front heavy-metal group Wicked Wisdom. This introduced her to that world, but also to seeing her mother subjected to racist, sexist abuse when she took to the stage. In the ’00s, metal was very much a white, male space.
Willow says of her mother’s influence: “She showed me what being a woman is really all about. There are literally no words to describe having to get up in front of people who literally hated her, every night. She did it with such grace and power. And at every single show, she won them over. By the end of the show, the people who were calling her racial slurs and throwing things at her were like, ‘Actually, they kinda went off’. That made it really worth it.”
Earlier this year, after appearing on Red Table Talk, she made headlines when she revealed she was polyamorous (engaging in multiple romantic and sexual relationships at once). “With polyamory, I think the main foundation is the freedom to be able to create a relationship style that works for you and not just stepping into monogamy because that’s what everyone around you says is the right thing to do,” she explained to her mother and grandmother while the whole world was listening.
Today, Willow tells us how she’s open about her sexuality in the hopes of normalising it: “So many people live [in] so many different kinds of ways. The one thing that humans have never been good at is accepting that people are different. It’s about time we started getting good at that, though. As long as people are being honest and compassionate, how they live has nothing to do with you.”
Likewise, she sings in-depth about her struggles with mental health and anxiety. “At first it was to get my emotions out, because otherwise I might explode and have a panic attack,” she explains, “but the after-effect of that is that it can help others, which I’m so glad about”.
An artist that is already inspiring so many others, I would encourage everyone to listen to WILLOW’s music. I have put a playlist at the bottom with some of her very best tracks to date. A remarkable and fascinating talent, we are going to hear a lot more…
FROM the amazing WILLOW.