WILLOW

"transparent soul" by Willow features Blink-182’s Travis Barker on drums. It is intended to serve as the first single from Willow’s forthcoming fifth album via Roc Nation. Willow Smith described this song as having been written during a very introspective time at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, and inspired by a quote from Hindu guru Radhanath Swami. Smith was also inspired to enter the genre by her mother, Jada Pinkett Smith, having previously fronted nu metal band Wicked Wisdom in the early 2000s. Smith plays an Ernie Ball Music Man St. Vincent signature guitar on the track. The video received over a million views on YouTube within its first two weeks after being uploaded.

“I’m so happy that I got to bring these two parts of myself together, this spiritual part of myself into this pop-punk angsty world that I wanted to create for the video,” WILLOW explains. “I’m so honored and excited for you guys to see it. I am so grateful for this tune because it was created in such an introspective time (during the first couple months of quarantine),” she says. “It was the song that proved to me that I needed to let go of the insecurities I had about making a project of this genre.”

In 2010, Smith launched her music career with the single "Whip My Hair." She later signed to her mentor Jay-Z's record label Roc Nation, becoming the youngest artist signed to the label; and released the single "21st Century Girl", the following year. In 2015, Smith released her debut album, Ardipithecus. In 2018, Smith began co-hosting the Facebook Watch talk show Red Table Talk, which has earned her two NAACP Image Awards and two Daytime Emmy Award nominations.

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