Willow Smith is a singer and songwriter from Los Angeles. She’s also a member of one of the most famous families in the world. From a very young age, she followed in the musical footsteps of her parents, Will Smith and Jada Pinkett-Smith, and released her first single when she was just ten years old. Since then, she’s released four albums, and was named one of TIME Magazine’s 100 Most influential people in the world. This year, on her most recent album, she put out this song, "Transparent Soul," which was co-written with her longtime collaborator Tyler Cole, and features Travis Barker from Blink-182 on drums. I talked to her about how her upbringing and her musical evolution from her early pop star days influenced the way she made this song.
For more, visit songexploder.net/willow
Slowdive - Sugar for the Pill
Goapele - Stand
Fleet Foxes - Mearcstapa
Michelle Branch - Best You Ever
alt-J - In Cold Blood
Michael Kiwanuka - Black Man in a White World
Perfume Genius - Slip Away
Little Dragon - Sweet
Aimee Mann - Patient Zero
Gorillaz - Andromeda (feat. D.R.A.M.)
Norah Jones - Day Breaks
Dirty Projectors - Up in Hudson
Sleigh Bells - I Can Only Stare
Bonobo - Break Apart (feat. Rhye)
Sara Watkins - Without a Word
Dropkick Murphys - Blood
Nicholas Britell - Moonlight
Solange - Cranes in the Sky
Metallica - Moth into Flame
Justin Hurwitz - La La Land
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Stuff You Should Know
On Being with Krista Tippett
TED Radio Hour
Planet Money
The Dinner Party Download