Willow Smith wants to set the record straight: she's not just riding on her parents' fame. Despite being the offspring of two Hollywood icons, Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith, the 23-year-old songstress refuses to be labeled as a product of nepotism. Willow is carving her own path and asserting her independence.

As the cover girl for the latest issue of Allure magazine, Smith opened up about finding her voice and space in music, trusting herself, and what her hard work means. It’s a very interesting read, diving into the mind of a young woman with a true artist’s spirit. 

With her latest album out on May 3rd, “Empathogen,” the world gets to hear Willow’s growth as a musician and a person. She told Allure, “I just grew up a little bit, and I really am starting to figure out what kind of musician I really want to be.” Hearing Chet Baker for the first time opened her ears and mind in a way that made honing her skills and finding emotional depth in her music imperative. “After that moment, I [thought],‘Damn, I need to start practicing more. I need to start really sharpening my musicianship. That's really the vibe of this era and this time in my life is just becoming a better musician.”

These are not the words of a nepo baby. These are the words of a young woman who is very serious about her artistry, and that can be heard on “Empathogen,” Willow’s sixth studio album, which bounces so lightly through genres that one can’t pin it to one.

When she started her music career, Willow burst onto the scene with “Whip My Hair” in 2010, but just making pop hits wasn’t her bag. She shaved her head two years later, almost in defiance of the hit. 

“I didn't write the songs,” she says of her first albums. “I didn't produce the music. And now I [think] I need to write the songs. I need to produce the music. If I'm not doing that, what's the use of this?” Willow is willing to fight for her creative rights. “I've always been afraid of being perceived as difficult,” she says. “In this society, a woman who knows what she wants is always perceived as being ‘difficult.’ I'm not being difficult, I just know what I want. And I'm willing to sacrifice the chillness of the moment for trying to get to that goal.”

She continued, "I definitely think that a little bit of insecurity has driven me harder because people do think that the only reason I'm successful is because of my parents. That has driven me to work really hard to try to prove them wrong. But nowadays, I don't need to prove sh-t to anybody."