Willow Smith Pays Homage To Mother’s Rock & Roll Past
Twenty-year-old singer-songwriter Willow Smith recently paid homage to mother Jada Pinkett Smith’s rock and roll past in a special one-off performance alongside her previous rock band, Wicked Wisdom. Willow performed Wicked Wisdom original ‘Bleed All Over Me’ as part of the Mother’s Day episode of her Red Table Talk series, run by the mother and daughter duo.
Back in the early 2000s, actress Jada Pinkett Smith undertook a dramatic career change when she started the nu-metal band Wicked Wisdom. Whilst no longer regularly active, the band have remained in formation ever since the release of the self-titled sophomore album. It’s clear from Jada’s reaction to this new collaboration with Willow that she thoroughly enjoyed the performance, rocking out in the crowd!
Pinkett Smith posted on Instagram in celebration of her daughter’s work:
“Today we have a very, very special episode of RTT honoring some very special Mothers for Mother’s Day! @willowsmith orchestrated a really big surprise for me on this episode as well by paying homage to my Wicked Wisdom days. She decided to perform one her fav songs she would watch me perform when she was on tour with me. My heart burst in a thousand different ways having my daughter honor me in this way. I love you Willow.”
The musicians in the Smith family are known to act as inspiration for one another, with Jaden and Willow often working together on projects and live tours in a creative and collaborative family unit. Fans showed immense support for this collaboration, even requesting a rock album from Willow after hearing her smooth vocals on the track, the rendition of which went viral on Twitter.
“My mother was superwoman, she was a rock star, warrior and nurturer all in one. So unapologetically badass. She was a rock star, and I was living for Wicked Wisdom.”
Last month, Willow brought out her new single ‘t r a n s p a r e n t s o u l’, breaking with expectations following the release of her most recent album Willow (2019). The single was produced in collaboration with Travis Barker, an original member of the well-known rock band Blink-182, and is peppered with guitar riffs, perhaps further evidence of influence from Jada Pinkett Smith and her days in rock.
In a statement following the single’s release, Willow said that she was “so grateful for this tune because it was created in such an introspective time (during the first couple months of quarantine), it was the song that proved to me that I needed to let go of the insecurities I had about making a project of this genre.” In a digital interview with Zane Lowe on Apple Music, she also mentioned the support and influence she received from Wicked Wisdom, and her new-found confidence in mixing genres: “So in my mind, it’s like all the colors of the rainbow are available to me […] because this project was a fear point for me. I felt like I needed to experience that in order to just grow more of what I love about myself, which is the variety.”
Check out the performance below.