Willow

Willow has carved out a singular lane by reshaping the contours of pop, R&B, rock, and alternative sounds according to her own instincts. The singer-songwriter first surfaced with the 2010 viral single “Whip My Hair,” which made her the youngest artist to earn a double-platinum certification at that point. On the self-produced 2015 album Ardipithecus she introduced alt-R&B shading to her palette. Pastoral acoustic tones defined 2017’s The 1st, while dream-pop accents surfaced on the 2019 self-titled record. Punk rock entered the mix with 2021’s Lately I Feel Everything; the following year she leaned further into guitar-driven material on COPINGMECHANISM and, in 2024, merged alternative pop with jazz textures on the single “Symptoms of Life” and the album Empathogen. Frequent partners have included her brother Jaden, Tyler Cole under the moniker the Anxiety, and Jahnavi Harrison on the 2020 EP R I S E. Beyond music and film, she is recognized as a fashion figure, social-rights advocate, and television personality who appears with her mother and grandmother on the family discussion series Red Table Talk.

Born to Will Smith and Jada Pinkett-Smith, Willow followed siblings Jaden and Trey into the entertainment world first as an actor. Her screen debut came alongside her father in I Am Legend (2007), followed by parts in Kit Kittredge: An American Girl (2008) and Madagascar 2: Escape to Africa (2008) plus guest spots on True Jackson, VP portraying a younger Keke Palmer. In 2010 Jay-Z’s Roc Nation label signed her as a vocalist; the buoyant single “Whip My Hair” arrived later that year and reached the Top 20 of Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart by late October. The track ultimately achieved double-platinum status, establishing ten-year-old Willow as the youngest artist to reach that milestone. She received the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding New Artist in 2011.

Ardipithecus, her debut full-length, landed in 2015. The project explored varied sonic textures and marked a clear departure from “Whip My Hair,” revealing a more alternative perspective positioned somewhere between Lorde and Janelle Monáe; Willow also produced ten of its eleven tracks. The 1st, issued in 2017, shifted toward an organic singer-songwriter approach showcased on songs such as “Boy” and “A Reason.” July 2019 brought the eclectic third album Willow, co-produced with Tyler Cole and imbued with a dreamy atmosphere recalling Cocteau Twins and Mazzy Star while featuring Jaden on “U Know.” The duo’s partnership continued as the Anxiety, whose self-titled album appeared in March 2020; its lead single “Meet Me at Our Spot” later became an international Top 40 radio hit. Closing out the year, Smith joined British musician Jahnavi Harrison for the spiritually oriented EP R I S E.

Pop-punk entered her repertoire in 2021 via the angst-driven single “Transparent Soul” featuring drummer Travis Barker. That track and two additional Barker collaborations appeared on Lately I Feel Everything, an album shaped by childhood favorites Paramore and My Chemical Romance and bolstered by guest appearances from Avril Lavigne, Tierra Whack, and Cherry Glazerr. The set reached number five on the Top Alternative Albums chart and entered the Top 50 of the Billboard 200. In 2022, alongside work with PinkPantheress, Camila Cabello, and Yungblud, she sustained her rock direction on the fifth album COPINGMECHANISM, which contained the metallic riffs of “ it’s my fault” and the punky “hover like a GODDESS.” The 2023 EP Live at Electric Lady offered re-imagined versions of five songs from that project. More refined, alt-pop-leaning standalone singles followed with “Alone” and 2024’s “Symptom of Life.” Another single, “Big Feelings,” preceded the sixth album, May 2024’s Empathogen. Contributions from Jon Batiste and St. Vincent helped expand its alternative-pop-meets-jazz orientation.