NEW YORK, Nov. 22, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Think you know a thing or two about Willow Smith? Think again. Willow fights tooth and nail to show the world who she is on her viscerally emotive new album, <COPINGMECHANISM>, released on October 7th through MSFTMusic/Roc Nation Records. In this cathartic and candid SPIN exclusive, the musician and actress opens up about her past like she’s never done before.
During her hour-long chat with writer Taylor Henderson, Willow reveals how shaving her head symbolized an evolution, especially for a singer who launched her music career with the platinum-certified single “Whip My Hair.”
She first shaved her head when she was just 11 years old, less than two years after the release of “Whip My Hair.” At the time, she was worried that everyone would “think of me as the same kind of person forever. I’m never going to be able to get rid of this. I’m never going to be able to run away from this.” Cutting off that baggage felt like the only escape. “I can’t be the ‘Whip My Hair’ girl if I don’t have any hair,” she says.
Willow also explores her thoughts on spirituality, gaining control of her body and sound, what she loves and hates about polyamory, the break up that inspired her latest album, and why she’s sober.
She discusses the power she finds in bucking expectations — whether they’re from the public’s perception of her as a child of celebrities, a Black woman, or as a musician.
Of course, she has regrets, but Willow is not angry anymore; instead, she chooses to accept aspects of her past as pieces of the dazzling puzzle she is today.
The daughter of actors Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith, Willow made her acting debut in 2007 in the film I Am Legend with her father and later appeared in Kit Kittredge: An American Girl alongside Abigail Breslin. In 2010, Willow released "Whip My Hair," which peaked at number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100. Willow has been mentored by Jay-Z and became the youngest artist signed to his label, Roc Nation. Since then, she’s emerged a double-platinum, platinum, and gold-certified artist and has received various accolades, including a Young Artist Award, an NAACP Image Award, a BET Award, and nominations for two Daytime Emmy Awards and an MTV Video Music Award.
Willow has journeyed far from being a cute, 9-year-old celebrity offspring with a Top 40 pop single. Five albums in, the musician and actress is shifting her narrative, and her hard-rocking and healing album captures the essence of her “tribal alien life.” It’s a statement that redefines Willow on her terms.
Willow details her reinvention with SPIN, joining the lineup of contemporary legends who have recently graced its covers, including Demi Lovato, Paris Jackson, The Black Keys, YungBlud, Machine Gun Kelly, Denzel Curry, Kehlani, and many more.
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/a64be481-5408-49f8-9b3c-fa0b73ea5db1
