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Willow Smith Talks About The Racism And Sexism Her Mother Faced While Touring

By Modupeoluwa Adekanye

30 June 2021   |   10:46 am

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Willow Smith recently opened up about the "intense racism and sexism" she saw her mom face as a kid when she accompanied Jada on tour with her nu-metal band Wicked Wisdom as a kid. She told L'Officiel: My mom got so much hate. It was intense racism and sexism, just packed onto the tens. People…

Willow Smith Talks About The Racism And Sexism Her Mother Faced While Touring

Willow Smith recently opened up about the “intense racism and sexism” she saw her mom face as a kid when she accompanied Jada on tour with her nu-metal band Wicked Wisdom as a kid.

She told L’Officiel:

My mom got so much hate. It was intense racism and sexism, just packed onto the tens. People giving her death threats, throwing glass at her onstage. Some crazy stuff went down when she was touring with her band.

As Willow embarks on her pop-punk era with her recent singles “Lipstick” and “Transparent Soul,” she’s reminded of the adversity her mother faced from the same music community. “I got to see that hate firsthand,” she said. “It was so scary to me, and I think I internalized a little bit.”

Every time I feel that coming on, I just go back to my memories of my mom and how she would deal with actual physical danger—she just rose above it. Obviously, she was scared. But she really showed me what ‘womaning up’ really was, by taking a stance and not being afraid of other people’s judgements and perceptions. I really wanted to just go within that place in myself and try something new, regardless of what my insecurities were.

Willow recently reunited Wicked Wisdom, filling in for her mom as frontwoman, as she surprised Jada with a Mother’s Day performance. Explaining her actions during the special Red Table Talk episode, Willow said:

When I was, I wanna say about 3 or 4, I went on tour with my mom and her band Wicked Wisdom. Wicked Wisdom was lit. This is the music that I grew up around. My mother was a superwoman, she was a rock star, warrior, and nurturer all in one. So unapologetically badass. She was a rock star, and I was living for Wicked Wisdom.

With her upcoming album Lately I Feel Everything, featuring collabs with Travis Barker and her “idol” Avril Lavigne, Willow hopes to bring more Black representation to the genre according to Yahoo News.