(Instagram)A few years ago, Willow Smith's ascent to the top of the family programming food chain seemed inevitable. Before the performer even reached middle school, she'd managed to pull off a hit single, open a string of dates for Justin Bieber, and score a role in the much-hyped
Annie revival. Then, just as quickly as she arrived, she withdrew from the spotlight.
"I just wanted to chill, and be at home, and decompress, and just find out what I wanna do and where I stand on this planet, with the little tiny place we have," Smith explains in a new interview with
V Magazine (via
EOnline),
adding, "I just feel like I want to do it different than the world's ready for."
If Smith's new song "5" is any indication of how she wants to "do it," then the world's probably ready.
The song, uploaded via Soundcloud on Monday, is a lusciously mellow R&B tune that showcases just how much Willow has matured since her "Whip Her Hair" days. Unlike pretty much any other 13-year-old in existence, Smith appears to have mastered the art of restraint. Unfortunately the same cannot be said of her brother Jaden, who provides a guest verse with lines that make as much as sense as his tweets ("Throw a ketchup bottle at you that's some freaking flying sauces / And go to Mars, show you flying saucers").
Still — nice work from Willow.
