Willow Smith Looks Ahead to Touring With Childish Gambino, Looks Back on ‘Whip My Hair,’ and… Baby Turtles?

variety.com:

A.D. Amorosi When we last heard from Willow — the mononymous title for Willow Smith, daughter of Will and Jada Pinkett Smith — she was bald, boldly rocking out, and conquering the prog-power-pop game with 2022’s loud “Coping Mechanism” for Roc Nation, her label home since 2010’s pop hit, “Whip My Hair.” Two years can make a big difference.

With her just-released new album “Empathogen,” Willow made radical changes to her music resulting in dreamy, complex, jazzy strain of R&B with equally intricate, soul-searching lyrics and a more nuanced vocal approach.

The 23-year-old also left Roc Nation — her label since 2010 — and signed with Three Six Records for “Empathogen.” She also published her debut historic novel — “Black Shield Maiden,” tale of African warriors in the world of the Vikings, written with Jess Hendel — and earlier this week was announced as the opening act on the North American leg of Childish Gambino’s “New World” tour, all just days after attending NYC’s Met Ball with a surprisingly minimalist look in the face of that ceremony’s ostentatiousness.Variety caught up with Willow in Los Angeles to discuss “Empathogen” and the rest of her busy spring schedule.How are you feeling about touring with Childish Gambino? Childish Gambino is one of the most prolific visionaries of this generation.

It’s an honor to be with him in any shape or form.Your look for last week’s Met Ball featured a design that was gorgeously minimalistic, black and austere – so different from everyone else’s over-the-top displays. I think that the best, most striking art – music or fashion – has the spirit of simplicity and elegance about it.