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THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2011
ETCETERA
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MILLIONAIRESS AT
Willow Smith is no ordinary youngster. Daughter of acting
superstars Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith, she has been singing and acting since she was seven and had her first chart-topper, ‘Whip My Hair’, when she was nine
Singin g wante and acting d is I get m to do my w what I’ve ho y my sin acting from le life. ging a bility dad and from m um
H
er new single, 21st Century Girl, has gone straight to the top of the charts.She earns over $5 million a year, has her own production company and a personal staff of five. Her hair-style is copied by millions and her first collection of clothes is out soon. Not bad for a girl who is... ten years old! But then Willow Smith is no ordinary youngster. Daughter of acting superstars Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith, she has been singing and acting since she was seven and had her first chart-topper, Whip My Hair, when she was nine. Nor has Willow’s success taken her by surprise. “Singing and acting is what I’ve wanted to do my whole life,” she says. “I get my acting from dad and my singing ability from mum. That’s just what happens when you hang out with the Smiths!” Willow made her acting debut in 2007 in I Am A Legend, playing her father’s daughter (“it was a pretty easy thing to do!”)followed by an award-winning performance in Kit Ketridge — an American Girl. Whip My Hair, hailed as “one of the hottest songs of the year,” sold over half a million in a week. When it reached number one it made Willow the youngest person to top the charts since Jimmy Osmond in 1972. Rapper and pop tycoon Jay-Z heard the record before it was released and immediately signed up Willow without knowing that she was only nine. “All I knew that the record would be a smash,” he says. “I believe in superstars and I believe in big records and Willow has both. She has a child’s innocence but she has a clear vision of who she is and who she wants to be.” Talking about her new record deal with Jay-Z’s label, Willow says: “It felt like all the hard work I’d done in recording the song had paid off. “We went to this big building — I don’t remember what it was— but I got to meet Jay-Z and it was fun.” Willow has known fame and fortune all her life. Her family’s closest friends are the Cruises and her 12-year-old brother Jayden is the star of the remake of the Karate Kid. Will Smith, star of such mega-hits as The Independence Day and Men in Black, is taking a break from his own career to steer his children’s move into showbusiness. In fact Will started his career as a rapper in the late 1980s, calling himself the Fresh Prince. Recently he announced that he plans to produce a remake of Little Orphan Annie starring his daughter. Jay-Z is in talks to provide Willow’s songs for the movie. All this means that Willow’s life is hardly that of an ordinary youngster. “I never really get to go to school because I either recording or on tour,” she says. “I have a personal am eith tutor b but because I am always working I find it hard to get to tthe lessons. All my friends are ahead of me in most subjects because they go to school regularly.” subject There’s not much chance that things will change for a The while — Willow is about to go on yet another world tour, time supporting teen idol Justin Bieber. this tim Willow says she picks all her own songs and particuWill liked 21st Century Girl “ which is about girls who larly li just be themselves. They’re walking towards their can jus and striving to be the best because you know that goal an can do it.” you ca Jay-Z says that Willow is “only at the start of an inJaycredible journey” but parents Will and Jada know the credib dangers involved in being a pre-teen pop phenomenon. danger The pressure of early success had a disastrous effect on such child performers as Lena Zavaroni, Aaron Carter and of course Michael Jackson. But Will Smith says: “We know the dangers of too much attention for a ten-year-old and we know when shield her from it. “Of course Willow’s childhood to shie is diffeerent from other kids, but she is happy and wellbalanced and Jada and I are careful to give her the sort balanc guidance and discipline that ten-year-olds need. of guid “We have a happy family life and there are no stars in Smith household! If chores need doing we all chip in, the Sm regardless of how many Oscars or platinum discs we’ve regard On the advice of top show-business accountants got!” O Will is not only Willow’s father but also her employer! This is because Willow’s record contract is with Jay-Z Roc Nation which has made an agreement with label R Spooky Girl Inc, whose president is...Will Smith. Willow’s mum is listed as her guardian so technically Will Jada aand Will could be on opposite sides if it came to a disagreement over Willow’s singing career. disagre g -Judson B Bennett/TONY JAMES FEATURES
Award of Excellence Designer: Greg Fernandez