Happy Birthday, Willow Smith

Willow Camille Reign Smith, better known to us as Willow Smith, was born October 31, 2000, to musician-actor Will Smith and actress-singer Jada Pinkett Smith. Like her older brother Jaden and half-brother Trey, Willow followed in both of her parents’ footsteps in music and acting. An impressive fact I learned from Wikipedia is that Smith and her brothers are youth ambassadors for Project Zambia, which provides assistance for Zambian children orphaned by AIDS.

The site also writes that Willow Smith made her acting debut in 2007, appearing with her father Will Smith, in the film I Am Legend. In 2008, she appeared in and received a Young Artist Award for Kit Kittredge: An American Girl. Willow also voiced the character of young Gloria in Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa.

According to Wikipedia, Willow launched her music career in the fall of 2010 with the release of her single "Whip My Hair," which went platinum in the U.S. and peaked at number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100. The video had equal popularity and was nominated for Video of the Year at the BET Awards of 2011. Her second release “21st Century Girl," was not so well received. The song was performed on The Oprah Winfrey Show and released the next day, February 3, 2011, and the video released on March 9, 2011. Unlike “Whip My Hair,” “21^st Century Girl” had poor chart performance both in the U.S. and U.K.

That same year she signed with current mentor Jay-Z’s record label StarRoc & Roc Nation. In January 2011, Will Smith announced he was planning to produce a remake of the famous comic strip Little Orphan Annie, starring Willow in the title role. Wikipedia mentions Jay-Z is in talks to provide the music for the film and possibly create brand new songs.

Like most children, Willow Smith’s life has been challenging, and being in the public eye could only makes things more challenging. Unlike her other siblings, the young celebrity is often in the media and a favorite target of paparazzi because of her flamboyant outfits, hairstyles, and antics, like her fake tongue piercing months ago and recently wearing a jacket that says, “I hate everyone.”

I don’t go out of my way to keep up with all of her antics, but the media often gives me no choice. I am no authority, but her musical career seems to be in a bit of a slump. True fans of hers may disagree and be more up to date with her musical endeavors, but I tend to be more interested in her choice of outfits.

Willow seems like she is not one to pass on a hot trend or try to start one herself, so I’m sure she’s got an outfit all planned out for her birthday. Just in case she’s out of ideas, though, I put together one for her. I mixed two animal prints together and pair them with a pair of over the top faux fur boots. It will be interesting to see what she actually chooses to wear to celebrate her day.