. Willow Smith (who goes by the stage name WILLOW) dropped a new single along with an accompanying visualizer on August 5. “hover like a GODDESS” — a creative use of capitalization just like bro Jaden Smith’s tweets — and it’s in the vein of much of WILLOW’s recent work: pop-punk pastiche filtered through a Gen-Z lens.
The last four years have been nonstop for Willow. In 2019, she released a self-titled psychedelic R&B album, followed six months later by a 10-track project with frequent collaborator Tyler Cole. Willow switched gears completely, releasing the devotional meditation EP RISE, and by spring 2021, she was promoting her first full-blown rock album,
Roc Nation co-president Shari Bryant insists there’s “not one particular reason” that these artists seek out Willow. For some, it might be the wide audience she reaches with 30 million weekly streams; others just “like her point of view. Her aura is something you can’t get anywhere else.”
Regardless of whether she’s solo or on someone else’s track, the demand for Willow is holding strong