![]() ![]() It is remarkable to watch her growth and there is no better song to highlight that growth than ” Female Energy”. In a few short years, we have watched this young lady go from simply sharing her appetite for wonder to exploring topics in a way that people rarely share. On the latter, she sings over steel drums in a sweet, fluttery falsetto: Take the money, take the fame/ All I want is truth.At 14 years of age Willow Smith does a lot more than just whip her hair. Inspired by current obsession Erykah Badu, she’s replacing the kid-friendly dancefloor bombast with a more organic sound she describes as “rule-breaking” and “pioneering.” Recent efforts, like last year’s piano-driven ballad “Drowning” and the drone-y R&B of “8” are reflective of the stripped-down direction Willow’s heading in. Unsurprisingly, Willow has outgrown the musical language of her early work. Willow’s newfound spirituality coincides with a healthy skepticism of authority and an admirable dedication to combat society’s “repression of creativity and repression of the naturalist.” On the other, it’s endearing for a 13-year-old with nearly four million Twitter followers and a Roc Nation record deal being so intent on sharing her curiosity about a better life. Now 13, she’s most excited when talking about her so-called “journey of self.” In conversation, she casually references Drunvalo Melchizedek’s The Ancient Secret of the Flower of Life, a New Age-y self-enlightenment guide based on a sacred geometry that’s said to hold a wellspring of ancient knowledge. On the one hand, her pursuit of enlightenment is somewhat stereotypical teenage fare, maybe a little pretentious and weird. “There’s something really incendiary about a 12-year-old girl who says and does what she wants,” he said in an interview with New York magazine last year. I wanna transcend all of that and go into a higher state of being.” Recently, she bowed out of a major film adaptation of Annie to focus on being a kid and to attend school for the first time. Unfortunately, Willow says, seventh grade turned out to be one of the worst experiences of her life-“They teach you to just go to school, go to college, and then get a job,” and thereby “repress creativity”-but the decision to bail on Hollywood still speaks loudly about the person her father identifies as his family’s biggest star. Since 2010’s glossy, destined-to-go-viral “Whip My Hair,” a PG self-empowerment anthem that marked the beginning of Willow’s public emergence at age 10, she has confidently moved from novelty celebrity-offspring to a bonafide personality in her own right. Over the past few years, there have been precocious TV appearances, preternaturally cool red carpet looks and a slow drip of music. “I’m transitioning from being someone I thought I was to, like, ‘Wait, that’s not me,” Willow says. The rigid media training that often suffocates the speech and mannerisms of pop stars of her caliber is nowhere to be found. “I’m just trying to get everyone else to see it.” She speaks with earnest enthusiasm, her spindly arms waving to underscore important points. ![]() “The government, they’re trying to do all this stuff, and I’m speaking that out in my art a lot,” Willow says over Skype from her manager’s office, dressed in her summer uniform of a short blonde ‘fro and tie-dyed T-shirt. The young singer and actor-daughter of Will and Jada, sister of Jaden and Trey-is on a journey to open her mind’s eye, and yours.
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