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Willow Smith said she grew up watching her mom Jada Pinkett Smith receive death threats and experience 'intense racism and sexism'

Jun 30, 2021, 20:54 IST
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Willow recently entered the Pop Punk genre with viral hit "Transparent Soul." Jerritt Clark/Getty Images
  • Up until the age of 10, Willow Smith went on tour with her mother's band Wicked Wisdom.
  • Jada Pinkett Smith was the frontwoman for the nu metal band.
  • Willow told L'Officiel that she got to see "hate firsthand" on those tours.
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    Willow Smith spoke about the "hate" and "death threats" that her mother, Jada Pinkett Smith, received while on tour with her band, Wicked Wisdom, where she was the frontwoman.

    "It was intense racism and sexism, just packed onto the tens," Willow, who went on tour with her mother when she was a child, told French fashion magazine L'Officiel.

    "People giving her death threats, throwing glass at her onstage. Some crazy stuff went down when she was touring with her band," she added.

    Willow, who's now a musician herself, admitted that what she saw as a child still affects her.

    "I got to see that hate firsthand," she added. "It was so scary to me and I think I internalized a little bit."

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    Willow Smith performing with Wicked Wisdom. Facebook

    However, seeing her mother handle those situations taught her to handle her own insecurities.

    The 20-year-old singer told L'Officiel, "Every time I feel that coming on, I just go back to my memories of my mom and how she would deal with actual physical danger - she just rose above it."

    "Obviously, she was scared. But she really showed me what 'womaning up' really was by taking a stance and not being afraid of other people's judgments and perceptions. I really wanted to just go within that place in myself and try something new, regardless of what my insecurities were," Willow continued.

    Today, Willow is still making music after debuting with her hit song, "Whip My Hair." The singer released "Transparent Soul," featuring Travis Barker, back in April.

    And for Mother's Day earlier this year, Willow surprised her mother with a performance with her mother's band, Wicked Wisdom, to pay homage.

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    During an episode of the Facebook Watch series, "Red Table Talk", which they host with Jada's mother, Adrienne Banfield Norris, Willow sang "Bleed All Over Me" with Wicked Wisdom's former members, Pocket Honore and Taylor Graves.

    Smith told L'Officiel of her music, "I just wanted to fulfill that desire that I had ever since I was 10 or 12 of singing rock music, of being a Black woman singing rock music."

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