For over a decade, Willow Smith has been in the spotlight as a musician, from the teeny-bopper sensation that was "Whip My Hair," to her matured and emotive latest single, "Big Feelings."
On the heels of her upcoming new album Empathogens, the 23-year-old sat down for a conversation with Allure about all things beauty, career, and life, and broke down her pursuit for space in the industry.
As the daughter of global stars Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith, the music has always been in Willow's blood, but she has also had to face being branded a "nepo baby."
When asked about it during her interview, however, she explained why she doesn't believe she fit that mold, acknowledging the opportunities she'd received thanks to her last name, while stating that it was probably because of her family legacy that she pushed herself to work harder and make her own mark.
"I truly believe that my spirit is a strong spirit and that, even if my parents weren't who they were, I would still be a weirdo and a crazy thinker," she shared.
"I definitely think that a little bit of insecurity has driven me harder because people do think that the only reason I'm successful is because of my parents. That has driven me to work really hard to try to prove them wrong. But nowadays, I don't need to prove [expletive] to anybody."
She further opened up about feeling out of place, despite her privilege, due to being a Black person in America, elaborating on still feeling like she was out of place in certain situations.
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"There have been some experiences where I went into a place that I have worked in the past and my picture could even be up on the wall, and they treat me like, 'This is a little bit out of your price range' or 'You don't really belong here.'"
Willow continued: "Being Black in America, even with privilege, which I'm never going to deny that I have, you're still Black. And I love being Black."
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"People would look at me and [say], 'Okay, well, her parents are this and this and that, but she still is like me. She still has brown skin.' And we all know that that doesn't exempt you from anything, and that's a place of connection."
The "Meet Me At Our Spot" singer did reveal, though, that while she developed an interest in being a musician at a very early age (releasing "Whip My Hair" when she was only nine years old), her parents were reluctant to make that move at first.
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"As a young kid, I'm up on my cloud. I thought they were being such Debbie Downers," she recalled of the moment she told them she wanted to be a musician.
"They're acting so serious. They were like, 'Okay, we just want you to know that if you really want to sing, this is not going to be easy.' And I [thought], 'What? It was so easy. I just made a song.' Little did I know that the [expletive] is a deep lineage, that when you add to that lineage, you must come correct."