Will Smith couldn’t contain his pride as he celebrated his daughter Willow’s latest achievement. The 23-year-old artist’s new album, Empathogens, recently hit the number one spot in contemporary jazz albums.
The proud father shared the exciting news on social media, affectionately referring to his daughter as ‘Bean’.
In a heartfelt post, Will expressed his admiration for Willow, who has carved out a unique space for herself in the music industry.
The young star recently sat down with Allure to discuss her journey, touching on beauty, career, and life.
She candidly spoke about her pursuit of individuality and space in the music world, despite the challenges of being born into a famous family.
As the daughter of global icons Will and Jada Pinkett Smith, music has always been in Willow’s blood.
However, she has had to navigate the label of being a “nepo baby.” During her interview, Willow addressed this topic head-on.
While she acknowledged the opportunities her last name has afforded her, she also emphasized that her family legacy has driven her to work harder and establish her own identity.
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Willow Smith is called bean by her dad
“I truly believe that my spirit is a strong spirit and that, even if my parents weren’t who they were, I would still be a weirdo and a crazy thinker,” she shared.
“I definitely think that a little bit of insecurity has driven me harder because people do think that the only reason I’m successful is because of my parents. That has driven me to work really hard to try to prove them wrong. But nowadays, I don’t need to prove to anybody.”
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Will Smith, Jada Pinkett-Smith, and their kids Trey, Willow and Jaden at Jada’s book tour for her memoir Worthy
Willow also opened up about her experiences as a Black person in America, despite her privilege. She elaborated on feeling out of place in certain situations and the challenges she faces due to her skin color.
“There have been some experiences where I went into a place that I have worked in the past and my picture could even be up on the wall, and they treat me like, ‘This is a little bit out of your price range’ or ‘You don’t really belong here,'” she revealed.
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Jaden Smith and Willow Smith
“Being Black in America, even with privilege, which I’m never going to deny that I have, you’re still Black. And I love being Black,” Willow continued.
“People would look at me and [say], ‘Okay, well, her parents are this and this and that, but she still is like me. She still has brown skin.’ And we all know that doesn’t exempt you from anything, and that’s a place of connection.”
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Willow is a talented musician
Reflecting on her early interest in music, Willow shared that her parents were initially reluctant to support her career choice.
Despite releasing her hit single Whip My Hair at just nine years old, her parents were cautious about her diving into the music industry at such a young age. “As a young kid, I’m up on my cloud. I thought they were being such Debbie Downers,” she recalled of the moment she told them she wanted to be a musician.
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