Will and Jada Pinkett Smith's kids, Willow and Jaden, are a pair of Hollywood's most
high-profile siblings, boasting careers in music, fashion, acting and activism. But are
these two really as tight as they seem? Here's the truth about Willow and Jaden's relationship.
While Willow and Jaden have a half-brother — Trey, who is Will Smith's son from a previous
relationship – they're the only two offspring of parents Will and Jada. That, on top of
how much Willow and Jaden look alike, makes the two of them seem like actual twins, a
detail that's not lost on Willow. She told Teen Vogue,
"We're like binary stars, like two parts of one thing. I know what he's thinking at all
times. And he knows what I'm thinking. We're not identical twins, but it feels like that
in a lot of ways."
So if you thought Willow and Jaden were faking their tight-knit bond for the cameras, it
appears the connection is real.
Clearly Willow and Jaden have a real rapport, something Willow says their parents made possible.
She told Interview magazine,
"Our parents were never like, 'You have to love [each other].' It was more like, 'You
have your life. He has his life. And when you guys want to come together, when you guys
want to commune, that's up to you.'"
That personal space, in turn, likely helped them realize that the other was the yin to
their yang. Willow added,
"Not a lot of siblings have that opportunity, because they're always being pushed together
so much. They need their time apart in order to realize themselves and realize who they
are."
Neither of the Smith siblings have been shy about their burning desire to make a positive
impact on the world. And as for where that drive originated, that's something Jaden says
comes from their parents. He explained to Interview magazine,
"That's where me and Willow both pull all of our inspiration from to change the world.
It all comes from a concept of affecting the world in a positive way and leaving it better
than it was […] when we came."
"You take it seriously to contribute to the human family. You just make us proud every
single day."
And it appears that their calling to create positive change isn't limited to one particular
avenue, either Willow and Jaden want to soak every aspect of their lives in light and energy.
Jaden added,
"I feel like that enters into all types of different areas because there are so many
different outlets that life has to offer for us. That goes into technology, into music.
That goes into science, into spirituality, into education."
Both Willow and Jaden prioritize creating art in the name of social awareness, as well
as uplifting and empowering others. And for her part, Willow refuses to promote or even
listen to music that degrades women in any way. She explained in an interview with Vulture,
"Such casually degrading language and words […] don't come from an intention of upliftment.
It's coming from fear. Really, I honestly feel like it's coming from rap music."
Fortunately not all rap music is off the table for Willow. It appears that her brother Jaden
chooses to create rhymes that his little sister happily approves of. She added,
"I listen to rap that's not misogynistic, like Jaden's raps, and rap that's actually
rhythm and poetry. Rap can be amazing and I'm glad that Jaden is holding space for conscious
rap because that's so important."
"I am a menace. And I am terrorizing this beat right now."
It's not lost on Willow and Jaden that they were born into fame and wealth, thanks to
their high-profile parents, who boast an estimated combined net worth of roughly $370 million,
successful careers, and A-list status. The siblings also know plenty of folks who are
famous for, well, basically just being famous on social media. Willow shared with Interview
magazine,
"I know so many kids who literally are, like, Instagram-famous. They have done nothing but
post pictures on Instagram. And they have followings."
"It's actually deeply saddening"
But that's not how Willow and Jaden roll on the 'Gram and other social media platforms.
Instead, they have a very deliberate mission and a pointed message for others. Willow added,
"Then there's people, like me and Jaden, who want to utilize social media to elevate the
consciousness of those people who feel like all they want from social media is to be famous.
Like, you can actually be a voice. You can actually say something that's inspiring and
not just make people feel like you need to buy things and be a certain way."
Although Willow and Jaden are very similar in a number of ways they're both philosophical,
they share similar views of the world, and they're both musicians there are aspects of
their personalities that are very different. One area in which this is clearly the case
is in their musical style. Willow told Vulture in 2017,
"We're very, very different artists."
"This music works terrestrially, and extraterrestrially."
Little sis Willow sings and plays the guitar, while big brother Jaden weaves rap over bombastic
beats. But that doesn't mean the siblings never collaborate. For one, they already went
on tour together in 2019, and they shared the stage at Coachella that same year as well.
But as for what the siblings might do together in the future, Willow says,
"I definitely think one day we'll put out an album that is a collaboration of both of
us. But right now [at] this point in our lives, we're both really figuring out who we are."
Despite the fact that Willow and Jaden are two distinct musical acts, they still complement
one another with their unique artistic talents. According to Jaden, the two are connected
in a special way, similar to another famous hip hop duo that they both admire. He told Complex,
"Jaden and Willow are like a band. Me and Willow are like OutKast except we only ever
release individual albums."
Given the synergy between OutKast's André 3000 and "Big Boi", Jaden makes hefty claims
that he connects with his sister on the same level. As for exactly what being a band means
to Jaden, that isn't 100 percent clear. But the siblings definitely have their own unique
brands that pair well together. Jaden added,
"It's like we're not really a band, but we kind of are. It's Jaden and Willow, we have
to have the uniform names."
Sibling rivalry is usually par for the course, when it comes to brothers and sisters. But
as Jaden Smith tells it, there was never anything to compete about in their home because Willow
was just naturally better at everything. He told Interview magazine,
"We never really felt competitive because Willow's always been better than me at everything.
There's been no competition."
"It's like 50 percent work, and like 102 percent fun."
Jaden sees evidence of this in his sister's accomplishments, which were always occurring
way ahead of his own. He said,
"Willow started making music first. I was like, 'My younger sister is, like, 4, and
she's making all these fire songs.' Willow was doing all these things, about to have
record label deals at like the age of 6, and I was like, 'I feel like I'm underachieving.'"
Of course, that's despite the fact that Jaden starred in a major motion picture before he
was even 10 years old. And even then, his sister was a part of the action.
"I felt like the movie was connected to me."
One thing that's well-known about Willow and Jaden is that they don't subscribe to traditional
gender norms. Jaden has stepped out wearing skirts both on the runway and on the street,
and Willow has come out as both bi and polyfidelitous. And part of the reason the pair are so open
about these norm-bucking perspectives is because of their upbringing, where they were free
to explore those sides of themselves without judgment. Willow told Harper's Bazaar,
"Well, I grew up with two brothers and no one ever really pushed a feminine thing on
me. You know what I mean?"
"I don't really agree with labels or anything like that. I feel like in order to evolve
as human beings, we need to evolve the way that we relate to each other."
Additionally, parents Will and Jada didn't overwhelm Willow and Jaden with traditional
gender stereotypes either. Willow added,
"No one was like, 'Oh, your brothers are this and you're this, so you need to act this,'
so I just grew up equal, like we're all the same basically."
If someone were to appoint individuals to be spokespeople for Gen Z, they'd likely select
Willow and Jaden for the job. Both digital natives who have grown up in the age of social
media, the two possess all of the characteristics of the generation, something that Willow feels
her elders don't fully understand. While she says she understands different perspectives,
she told Interview,
"It seems like [older people] don't understand our thought process. Or, like, things have
happened in the past that they're still mad about. We want to accept them and move forward."
"Is there anything you wanna say to yourself for when you get older?”
“Just do it."
Willow and Jaden are part of an art collective they've established called MSFTS [MISS-fitz].
With the goal of raising human consciousness through science and art, the members of the
collective identify as outsiders or, misfits. Jaden said in an interview with Gulf News,
"I think the whole world would now consider us misfits more than before. I think we do
a lot of things that are out of the ordinary, so yeah, we'd consider us misfits."
"MSFTS is all about just like helping the world and being different and just creating.”
“Embracing your individuality.”
“Embracing your individuality."
The mission of MSFTS might sound a little ambitious, but Jaden and Willow believe in
the work they're doing. By drawing on their existing fame and social capital, the siblings
are confident that they can reach out to people and encourage change for the better. Jaden
continued,
"We have the internet so we can reach directly to the individual without needing anybody
to explain what we're saying. […] And going at the individual is how you change the whole."
On the surface, it might appear that Willow and Jaden's relationship is constantly on
display for the entire world to see. But as Jaden tells it, that's not actually the case.
He revealed to Interview magazine,
"How people look at us in public is not how we actually are in private. It's just that
we choose not to tell everyone everything."
"My whole life has been a lie"
It seems that rather than constantly promoting themselves for public consumption, Jaden and
Willow prefer to reserve that energy for the kindred spirits who are special to them. Jaden added,
"We don't like people to really know what's happening with us or what we're into. The
only thing that we want to keep people updated with is that we want to keep the kids that
are following us the kids that are looking up to us updated on what we're learning and
what we're thinking about life."
If and when the future musical collaboration between Willow and Jaden winds up happening,
it's likely that it will sound incredible at least, according to Willow. She told the
New York Times in 2014,
"Me and Jaden just figured out that our voices sound like chocolate together. As good as
chocolate tastes, it sounds that good."
But if the pair ever releases such a delicious collab, they won't be doing it for their fans
or even their haters. Instead, they're more interested in entertaining themselves. Jaden said,
"Honestly, we're just trying to make music that we think is cool. We don't think a lot
of the music out there is that cool. So we make our own music."
"My whole life revolves around educating myself and just learning more, and educating the
people around me."
With their cutting-edge style, innovative artistic endeavors, and highly individual
personalities, Willow and Jaden are creating and curating while most of us are just trying
to stay current. But according to Jaden, he and his sister had even more going for them
when they were little kids. He revealed to Interview,
"Nobody knows that Willow and I were much, much cooler before. Like, before people were
looking at the things that we were doing, we were so much more, like, method with fashion.
We really went all the way."
Without the pressure of the media, Jaden claims they had real freedom to make one-of-a-kind
sartorial decisions. He added,
"We went the extra mile on everything because there was no one looking at us. We've been
through the roof, with ludicrous fashion ideas since we were extremely young."
When it comes to these two, we're not surprised.
"That was your stage baby you can do anything you want."
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