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Willow Smith
Willow Smith at the White House, Easter Egg Roll in April 2011.
Background information
Birth name	Willow Camille Reign Smith
Also known as	Willow
Born	(2000-10-31) October 31, 2000 (age 24) Los Angeles, California, USA
Genres	R&B, pop, hip hop, dance
Occupation(s)	Actress, singer, dancer, rapper
Instrument	Vocals
Years active	2007–present
Labels	Roc Nation/Columbia Records (2010-present)
Website	www.willowsmith.com

Willow Camille Reign Smith (born October 31, 2000), known simply as Willow, is an American child actress, singer, dancer and rapper. She is the daughter of Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith, and the younger sister of Willard Carroll "Trey" Smith III and Jaden Smith. Smith made her acting debut in 2007 in the film I Am Legend and later appeared in Kit Kittredge: An American Girl alongside Abigail Breslin. She received a Young Artist Award for her performance.

Apart from her acting she launched a music career in the fall of 2010 with the release of her singles "Whip My Hair", "21st Century Girl", and signing to her current mentor Jay-Z's record label Roc Nation, becoming the youngest artist signed to the label. "Whip My Hair" has peaked at number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100. The video was nominated for Video of the Year at the BET Awards of 2011.

Early life

Willow Smith is the daughter of musician-actor Will Smith and actress Jada Pinkett Smith. She has an older half-brother, Trey Smith and an older brother, Jaden Smith; who is a child actor. Smith is of African-American, West Indian, Creole, and Portuguese-Jewish ancestry. Smith and her brothers are youth ambassadors for Project Zambia, which, in conjunction with Hasbro, provides assistance for Zambian children orphaned by AIDS.

Acting career

Smith made her acting debut in I Am Legend alongside her father. Her next film, Kit Kittredge: An American Girl, was released on July 2, 2008. In 2008, she voiced the character of young Gloria in Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, alongside her mother as older Gloria.

On January 20, 2011, Will Smith announced he was planning to produce a remake of the famous comic strip Little Orphan Annie starring Smith in the title role. Jay-Z is also in talks to provide the music for the film and possibly create brand new songs. However, Smith was considered too old and the title role was given to Quvenzhané Wallis in February 2013.

Music career

2010–2012: Knees and Elbows

In June 2010, Smith's mother Jada Pinkett Smith announced in an interview on Lopez Tonight that Smith would be releasing an album. Smith then released her first single, "Whip My Hair", which went platinum in the US and peaked at number 11. In the UK the single peaked at number two. Smith soon after announced her next single, "21st Century Girl". After she performed the song on The Oprah Winfrey Show, she released it the next day on February 3, 2011. The video was released March 9, 2011.

On October 6, 2011, "Fireball", a collaboration between Smith and rapper Nicki Minaj, was released. "Fireball" was a commercial failure, failing to chart in any type of music market, except the US R&B chart, charting at 121. It was her first song to miss the Billboard Hot 100. Smith's producer announced that they were almost finished working on her debut album, and it should be done soon. He also said it has a similar style to "Whip My Hair". The title of the album was later announced to be Knees and Elbows. It was scheduled to be released around April 2012, but was announced that it would be released later in the year. On May 1, 2012, she released the "Do it Like Me (Rockstar)" music video, saying that it was her "first video ever". On July 2, 2012, Smith released "I Am Me" music video at the BET Awards. On July 17, she released her fourth single "I Am Me" via iTunes and Amazon. As of October 2013, the album has still not been released.

2013-present: Melodic Chaotic

In early 2013, Smith released her fifth single, "Sugar and Spice." In Summer 2013, Smith and DJ Fabrega started a duo titled "Melodic Chaotic"."The Intro" was released as the first work, "Summer Fling" was released as the second work of the two on July 6, 2013. The music video was directed by Smith and Mike Vargas who previously directed her single "I Am Me". The song has been widely criticized for its mature tone, the use of the word "fling", and the fake British accent she incorporates. On September 16, 2013, Smith performed "Summer Fling" on the series premiere of The Queen Latifah Show. During the performance, she said: "Just for clarity, the word fling means something that's short lived...And this song is dedicated to all the kids around the world whose summer is never long enough." Later in 2013, Smith released the single, "Drowning".

Discography

Singles

Featured singles

Music Videos

Filmography

Awards and nominations

References

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctc9vgFXIwc
2. "Video of the Year". Black Entertainment Television (BET). Retrieved November 21, 2011. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
3. "Jaden and Willow Smith support Project Zambia". In Touch Weekly. October 7, 2009. Retrieved June 8, 2010.
4. "Actors Jaden and Willow Smith Join Hasbro, Inc.'s Project Zambi as Youth Ambassadors". Project Zambi. October 7, 2009. Retrieved June 8, 2010.
5. Orloff, Brian; Lazaruk, Lauren (December 2, 2007). "Will Smith: My Daughter Wants to Be Paris Hilton". People. Retrieved June 8, 2010.
6. Smith, Krista (June 2010). "Rising Son: The New Karate Kid". Vanity Fair. Retrieved June 8, 2010.
7. "Will Smith Planning 'Annie' Remake With Jay-Z". Screen Rant. January 20, 2011. Retrieved February 20, 2011.
8. Rottenberg, Josh (February 24, 2013). "Beasts of the Southern Wild' breakout Quvenzhané Wallis to star in new big-screen 'Annie'". EW.com.
9. ^ Moody, Nekesa Mumbi (December 8, 2011). "Willow Smith Talks New Album 'Knees and Elbows'". The Huffington Post. Retrieved January 23, 2012.
10. ^ Cubria, Kaitlin (May 2, 2012). "Willow Smith Debuts Her First Ever Music Video for "Do It Like Me (Rockstar)"". Teen.com. Retrieved July 13, 2013.
11. "Willow Smith's "Summer Fling" Video Is Full of Fake Accents, Dancing & Young Love—Watch Now!". de.eonline.com. July 8, 2013. Retrieved September 17, 2013.
12. "Willow Smith and Her Fake Accent Have a Blast in 'Summer Fling' Video". jezebel.com. Retrieved September 17, 2013.
13. "Willow Smith's New Music Video Proves Whipping Your Hair Is Out, Faking A British Accent Is In". crushable.com. Retrieved September 17, 2013.
14. ^ "Willow Smith Performs 'Summer Fling' on 'The Queen Latifah Show'". Rap-Up.com. Retrieved September 17, 2013.
15. Caulfield, Keith; Pietroluongo, Silvio (November 4, 2010). "Chart Moves: Taylor Swift, Michael Jackson, Rihanna, Kanye West". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Retrieved November 4, 2010.
16. Yahoo Video. "Willow Music News & Info". Billboard.com. Retrieved February 20, 2011.
17. "ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart: 29/11/2010". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved November 28, 2010.
18. Steffen Hung. "Willow – Whip My Hair". australian-charts.com. Retrieved February 20, 2011.
19. "Nielsen Music: Canadian Update (November 5, 2010)". Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 4, 2010. Retrieved November 4, 2010.
20. Steffen Hung. "Willow – Whip My Hair". danishcharts.com. Retrieved February 20, 2011.
21. musicline.de / PhonoNet GmbH. "Die ganze Musik im Internet: Charts, News et-Suche". musicline.de. Retrieved February 20, 2011.
22. "irishcharts.com – Discography Willow". irish-charts.com. Retrieved December 16, 2010.
23. "Charts.org.nz – Willow Smith". charts.org.nz. Retrieved December 13, 2010.
24. "Chart Stats – Willow Smith". chartstats.com. Archived from the original on December 9, 2012. Retrieved December 16, 2010.
25. ^ "RIAA – Gold & Platinum – January 25, 2011". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved January 25, 2011.
26. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2011 Singles". Australian Recording Industry Association. January 31, 2011. Retrieved February 9, 2011.
27. "Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA): Gold & Platinum – January 2011". Canadian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved February 2, 2011.
28. http://www.rap-up.com/2014/01/13/new-music-willow-smith-f-jaden-5/
29. "Video: AcE f/ Jaden & Willow Smith – 'Find You Somewhere'". Rap-Up.com. September 17, 2012. Retrieved September 17, 2013.
30. "New Music: Jaden Smith f/ Willow – 'Kite'". Rap-Up.com. January 14, 2013. Retrieved September 17, 2013.
31. Howell, Peter (December 3, 2007). "Will Smith goes it alone". Toronto Star. Retrieved June 8, 2010.
32. Freydkin, Donna (December 11, 2007). "'Legend' premiere has that Smith family vibe". USA Today. Retrieved June 8, 2010.
33. don't forget "testing true"! :). Ashley Argota, YouTube, a.k.a. ashargota (official YouTube channel). 1:42 minutes in. "Willow Smith, who is Will Smith's daughter, is going to be playing Young True."
34. D'Zurilla, Christie (March 7, 2011). "'21st Century Girl' Willow Smith wins new-artist NAACP Image Award". Los Angeles Times. Tribune Company. Retrieved March 8, 2011.

External links

• Official website
• Template:Myspace
• Willow Smith at IMDb

Template:Persondata

• 2000 births
• 21st-century American actresses
• 21st-century American singers
• Actresses from Los Angeles, California
• African-American dancers
• African-American female singer-songwriters
• American child singers
• American female dancers
• American female pop singers
• American rhythm and blues singers
• American people of Creole descent
• American people of Portuguese-Jewish descent
• American people of West Indian descent
• American pop singer-songwriters
• Child pop musicians
• Living people
• Roc Nation artists
• Singers from Los Angeles, California
• American television actresses
• African-American actresses
• American film actresses
• American child actresses