Willow Smithrevealed the unexpected inspiration behind her guitar skills.
On Tuesday, theRed Table Talkco-host, 20, appeared virtually onThe Tonight Showto discuss her journey into rock music and her yet-untitled fifth studio album, slated to drop later this summer.
“I honestly think that it was brewing in me for a while that I knew I needed to play an instrument to really call myself a musician and I really wanted to do that,” she told host Jimmy Fallon.
Beyond the icons, it was actuallyMichael Cerawho inspired her to learn guitar.
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“I think it was just during the time that I found out Michael Cera made music. I had no idea that he made music,” Smith said. “I listened to his album and he’s playing, like, some acoustic guitar — folk, acoustic guitar. Michael Cera … the actor. How crazy is that?”
Though the actor broke out withSuperbadandJuno, Cera also released two albums in 1998 and 2014 as a singer-songwriter. Upon listening to his work, Smith called it a “breaking point” in believing she could succeed with the string instrument, too.
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After refining her skills, Smithreleased her latest single “Transparent Soul"last month. The pop-punk track is the first single on her upcoming album and features Blink-182’sTravis Barkeron the drums. She follows the footsteps of her mother,Jada Pinkett Smith, who was in a rock band, Wicked Wisdom, in the early 2000s.
Looking ahead, the songstress speculated that there could be more star-studded collaborations to come on the upcoming album as well.
“I’m so excited because in the past I haven’t done a lot of collaborations or features, so we’re gonna see a lot more collaborations on this album,” Smith said.
source: people.com
