Willow Smith, or better known as just Willow, was just 10 when she had her first hit “Whip My Hair.”
She is the daughter of actor Will Smith and actress Jada Pinkett Smith. She began her acting career by being in the movie “I am Legend.”
Her newest album, “Willow,” has only eight tracks, but the soft and longing feeling that it has makes it seem to last forever.
Willow’s personal style can be seen in the way she produced the songs.
The tracks of this album run into each other and can sometimes seem like just one very long song.
The format of this album is very different from her first one, “Ardipithecus.” The album was released when Willow was only 15-years-old and has a darker and more aggressive feel to it. Willow’s second album, “The 1st”, also seems to have a very soft feeling to it while also riding the more “indie-pop” line.
“Willow” was produced by Willow and Tyler Cole. Willow’s brother Jaden Smith makes a feature on track seven, “U KNOW.”
The album was featured on Billboard’s Heatseekers Albums and peaked at No. 22.
The psychedelic nature of this album is just a small look into what Willow’s life is like. She has tried to have a normal life, but with two superstar parents, it can be hard.
Listening to this album can be akin to trying to find your way through the mist. Never really seeing something real, but thinking that something is there, only for it to be gone the next second.
The track “PrettyGirlz” is very mellow, but seems to comment on society’s standards that girls are held up to. She mentions how people want “the girls with the hips” and “the girls with the lips.” However, she talks about how she wishes she had a so-called “Pretty Girl.”
Willow recently came out as bisexual this past summer, so this song is sort of an anthem to other LGBT+ people.
While “Time Machine” has a very R&B feel to it, also name-dropping Kurt Cobain and Jean-Michel Basquiat. She talks about how she feels as if everyone is looking towards technology to fill the void of loneliness they have.
Her track “Like a Bird” is the start of the album and it is very soft and whimsical, until the line “Feel like a knife, as it burrows into me”. It is a stark contrast to the rest of the song which has a light and airy feeling to it.
At 22 minutes long, Willow gives a deeper look into her views and how she sees the world. It is definitely worth the half-hour it takes to listen to it.
