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With five experimental albums of different genres under her belt and a sixth in the works, (not including her collaborative project with Tyler Cole, multiple stand-alone singles and four EPs...), Willow is a talented chameleon. Her latest record, "COPINGMECHANISM," has revealed an even edgier side of the singer, who has fully submerged herself into the pop/rock sphere. In mid-2021 another child born into an A list family, North West (daughter of Kim Kardashian and Kanye West), made headlines performing the “whip my hair” dance to this song, as posted online by her mom.
Willow Smith looks stunning with big change to hairstyle - and fans have a lot to say - HELLO!
Willow Smith looks stunning with big change to hairstyle - and fans have a lot to say.
Posted: Sat, 23 Sep 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]
Background and release
I was super young, and I had a dream, but all I really wanted to do was sing and I didn’t equate that with all the business and the stress that ended up coming with it. This same year, Willow also found time to collaborate with "Superbad" star Michael Cera on a standalone track called "twentyfortyeight 2.0." Smith first shaved her head at 11 years old in 2012, two years after "Whip My Hair" first dropped. She previously had her head shaved last March, while she spent 24 hours in a glass room as part of a performance art installation at the Geffen Contemporary at the Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles. We all know that Willow Smith's been wearing her head in a close-cropped buzz cut recently — and that she even convinced mother Jada Pinkett-Smith to do the same — but apparently, the process of getting said haircut was way cooler than we ever could have imagined.
Chart performance
The singer recalled touring with her mom's nu-metal band, Wicked Wisdom, for years as a child. Though Pinkett Smith, 49, sometimes faced intense racism as a Black woman fronting a hard rock band, she modeled for her daughter a powerful way to handle detractors. Though "Whip My Hair" later grew to be a source of embarrassment for her, the singer, 20, told L'Officiel magazine she now embraces the song's important self-love message. "For so long, I wanted to condemn that time of my life and forget it, just kind of push it under the rug,” said Smith. “I really regretted it." With that, Willow set to work on "COPINGMECHANISM," a rock album about love and loss.
Willow Smith used to regret her 2010 hit 'Whip My Hair.' Now, she embraces the song
As of this writing, the song is now certified Gold in Canada, New Zealand and the United States. In November, Willow Smith released the devotional meditation EP "RISE" with Jahnavi Harrison. Willow, in particular, has shown incredible vulnerability on the show. Most notably, the singer revealed that with the success of her first single came struggles with depression and self harm. "I definitely had to forgive you and daddy for that whole 'Whip My Hair' thing," Willow said to her mom in a 2018 episode (via NME).
But “Whip My Hair” still serves as the most-successful song she ever participated on. "Whip My Hair" is the debut single by American singer-songwriter Willow Smith, released in 2010 under the name Willow. The song was written by Ronald "Jukebox" Jackson and Janae Liann Ratliff, and produced by Ronald Jackson.[1] "Whip My Hair" peaked at number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Willow only performs an acoustic version of the song during her shows. Seemingly making peace with the trials and tribulations that come with growing up in the spotlight, the 17-year-old Willow opened up to Girlgaze (via W Magazine) about how she felt like she had to become part of the machine. "You can't change your face. You can't change your parents," she said. The I Am Legend actress most recently convinced her mom Jada Pinkett Smith that bald is beautiful.
As reported by Hyperallergic, viewers observed through glass as Cole and Willow went through the eight stages of anxiety, including PTSD, phobias, acceptance, and euphoria. Willow and Cole later released an EP under the band name THE ANXIETY and of the same title, which includes the viral track "Meet Me At Our Spot." Most importantly, this head-shaving moment doesn't seem at all like it's just about getting a haircut in a really unexpected way — that's due to the specific song choice. Willow Smith came into her own with her 2010 debut single "Whip My Hair." The daughter of Hollywood stars Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith was just 9 years old when she recorded the infectious R&B song, which encourages girls to whip their hair as they shake haters off.
By 2019, Willow was 18, more in tune with herself than ever, and ready to drop another album. The self-titled "Willow" drew inspiration from The Cocteau Twins and crop circles, and explores self-acceptance and growth for the newly-adult singer. "I wanted to bring in a psychedelic rock vibe to it while also bringing in those ambient harmonies — lots of harmonies — to really bring that divine, almost spiritual, energy to the music," Willow told Billboard. Later, Willow would release a full project with a similar sound called "Ardipithecus." Willow is the sole writer of 14 of the 15 tracks, and the sole producer of 10. Her brother Trey Smith, known professionally as AcE, also contributed to three of the songs. "I'm just a teeeeenagerrrrr," she croons, as she reflects on growing pains and adolescence.
"Just wanting to perform coping mechanism more and more and spread this wonderful, beautiful album that personally I feel like is some of my best work," she told SPIN when asked about her 2023 goals. "I just want everyone to hear it and I want to inspire people all around the world." Since then, she's realized "Whip My Hair" fits right in — at least thematically — with the the pop-punk songs that appear on her upcoming album, "Lately I Feel Everything," available July 16. And coming in second place would be another of her solo tracks, 2016’s “Wait a Minute!
With "Lately I feel EVERYTHING," the singer tapped into her punk rock side. "When I was younger, my brother and I toured with my mom's band, Wicked Wisdom, so heavy metal was one of the first types of music I heard a lot and I'm still really inspired by it," Willow shared with Billboard. But she admits that for a long time, she wasn't sure she could hold a candle to her mom's rock success, so she was hesitant to try out the sound on her own.
It features only three tracks — hence its title — including a song with SZA called "9." Following the success of her first single, Willow dropped "Fireball" with Nicki Minaj. "[Nicki Minaj] has so much energy, and working with her was like just [a] spark," she told Ryan Seacrest of the collab. Instead, Willow experimented with several lone singles like "21st Century Girl." The young performer also busied herself with showcasing her unique style at the BET Awards and KCAs alike. Willow Camille Reign Smith arrived on Halloween night in the year 2000, to father Will Smith and mother Jada Pinkett Smith.
The song was also an overall commercial success, strongly appealing to adults as well. When Pearl Jam plays "Daughter" live, they usually extend the ending so Eddie Vedder can improvise, saying or singing whatever is on his mind. Jerry Cantrell used a talkbox to create the warbling vocal effect on the Alice in Chains song "Man In The Box." I only had one really terrible experience, which is ‘Whip My Hair’ (…) Just that the values of the people around me [at the time] should have been the opposite.
In fact according to Willow’s own recollection, Will was so “harsh at certain times” that it took her “a couple of years” to forgive him. But ultimately she did come to the realization that such advisors were in fact more knowledgeable of the game than she was. Meanwhile as Big Willy himself recalls, ‘his entire family rejected the direction of his leadership’ back during the Whip My Hair days. “Whip My Hair” performed even more impressively across the pond as far as music listings go.
The proud mom unveiled her shaved head last week, sharing a photo of her new look, as she snuggled up to her daughter. "Willow made me do it because it was time to let go BUT … my 50's are bout to be Divinely lit with this shed," Jada, 49, wrote in the caption. "I feel like I was just shedding a lot of history and emotional baggage," Smith later explained on an episode of Red Table Talk.
Born and raised in Los Angeles, Willow is the youngest of three children and has always gravitated towards the spotlight. In a 2007 chat with Collider, Will Smith revealed that Willow was inspired to act at just 6 years old after seeing her brother Jaden's first performance on the big screen. "I think a big part of it is probably Jaden. After 'The Pursuit of Happyness' and she saw what Jaden did, she thought, 'I want that.'" However, her father admits that despite the talent that runs in the family, Willow's charisma and confidence is all Willow. "You kind of don't work with Willow, you work for Willow," the Oscar winner joked.
“I realized that the content in my songs has always been centered around self-love and the universe and our humanity’s divine path, about expressing oneself and being unapologetic,” she explained. “I listened to ‘Whip My Hair’ not too long ago, after many years, and realized that it’s the same message. I’m not saying anything that’s against my values, and on top of that, I’m saying things that are in harmony with my values."
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