No, you weren’t the only one having an identity crisis during the pandemic: so was Willow Smith (stars, they’re just like us). The “Whip my Hair” singer spent the last year honing the punk pop-rock sound evident in her single, “Transparent Soul,” released at the end of April, and people are loving it:
https://twitter.com/rinasawayama/status/1399722410820222995
https://twitter.com/vincestaples/status/1387285312099938307
Willow took her new aesthetic toV Magazine this month as the magazine’s digital cover star. In a Q&A with Alexis White (formerly Alexis Brown) of metal band Straight Line Stitch, the two performers discussed being Black women in the metal and punk rock scenes, Willow’s musical evolution, and her upcoming fifth studio album.
View this post on Instagram
The singer has been a lifelong punk rock and metal fan ー she spent her childhood traveling with her mom Jada Pinkett-Smith while on tour for her punk rock band Wicked Wisdom ー and cites Straight Line Stitch as a major source of inspiration.
“…when I saw you, it was like, “Whoa, this is a thing!” This isn’t just a phenomenon that I experienced in my life, more Black women are into this,” she told White. “…being a Black woman in the metal crowd is very, very different on top of the pressures that the music industry puts on you. Now, it’s like an added pressure of the metal culture, the metal world, and just rock in general. I used to get bullied in school for listening to Paramore and My Chemical Romance.”
https://twitter.com/tyIercoIe/status/1387212828814168066
Willow was trained as an R&B artist and says that she spent her time in quarantine experimenting with a vocal style that better fits her rock influences.
“For a really long time, I was like, ‘Oh, I don’t think it’ll be authentic; I’ll just sound like an R&B singer trying to be a rock singer,’” she told V. “ I tried this over quarantine and wanted to do something different. I wanted to shake something up and feel a different vibe. I feel very stagnant in this pandemic, so I started just messing around. It took a couple of demos to find that right balance because I do have a very alternative voice. My voice is not specifically an R&B voice, and it’s not specifically a rock voice. It kind of does whatever it wants when it feels like it. I was worried about that! ‘Transparent Soul’ was the fourth or fifth demo that I did when I felt that balance. But there were a few songs before that, that just didn’t hit the mark.”
View this post on Instagram
Willow’s album, which is set to be released this summer, will feature a song with Avril Lavigne.
“She is so iconic. From [ages] 13 to 16, she was my idol. It’s really nice to be able to have a quintessential pop-punk record with the pop-punk queen,” she says.
Willow teased a tour in the works and says she plans to continue adding more punk rock and metal influences into her sound.
“Everything that I do, I want it to be a mixture of activism and artistry. I’ve always wanted to do this type of music and always been so afraid to do so.”
What do you think of “Transparent Soul”? And you excited for Willow’s upcoming album? Let us know by leaving a reaction down below and tweeting at @celebsecrets.
