The Truth About Willow And Jaden Smith's Relationship
Willow and Jaden Smith, the daughter and son of actors Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith, are one of Hollywood's most high-profile pair of siblings. The two are known for delving into philosophical concepts in their press interviews, as well as saying things that no one else could possibly expect or anticipate. They're also both celebrated for their unique fashion sensibilities, musical talents, and old souls. There's truly no one else out there like the Smith siblings!
While growing up in the public eye hasn't always been easy for the duo, for the most part, Willow and Jaden have endured the constant spotlight with grace and candor, letting any criticisms that come their way roll off their backs and forging ahead to the beats of their own drums. Always involved in an art project and looking to send light and warmth into the world, the Smiths continue to surprise the rest of us.
So are Willow and Jaden really as tight as they seem? And what's the relationship between them really like when they're in private? Here's the truth about Willow and Jaden Smith's relationship.
Willow Smith says she and Jaden Smith are "binary stars"
While Willow and Jaden Smith have a half-brother — Trey, Will Smith's other son from a previous relationship – they're the only two offspring of Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith together. That, on top of how much Willow and Jaden look alike, makes the two of them seem like twins, a detail that's not lost on Willow. "We're like binary stars, like two parts of one thing," she mused in an interview with Teen Vogue. "I know what he's thinking at all times. And he knows what I'm thinking. We're not identical twins, but it feels like that in a lot of ways." Frankly it really does look that way at times, too.
So if you thought Willow and Jaden were faking their tight-knit bond for the cameras, or otherwise being disingenuous about how close they really are, you'd be wrong. They really do share a tight bond, and probably always will — and we are so here for it!
This is the reason Willow and Jaden Smith are so close
While having a sibling can at times be like having a built-in friend, not all brothers and sisters get along with each other all the time. But clearly Willow and Jaden Smith have a real rapport, something Willow says their parents made possible. "Our parents were never like, 'You have to love [each other],'" she revealed in an interview with Interview magazine. "It was more like, 'You have your life. He has his life. And when you guys want to come together, when you guys want to commune, that's up to you.'" Talk about killing the parenting game!
Having the space to figure themselves out on their own sounds like it allowed Willow and Jaden to become fully-formed individuals before they focused on building their bond. That, in turn, probably helped them realize that the other was the yin to their yang. "Not a lot of siblings have that opportunity, because they're always being pushed together so much," Willow continued. "They need their time apart in order to realize themselves and realize who they are."
Willow and Jaden Smith pull inspiration from the same place
Neither of the Smith siblings have been shy about their burning desire to make a positive impact on the world. As for where that drive to do better originated, that's something Jaden Smith says comes from their parents, who are their "biggest role models." In an interview with Interview magazine, he explained, "That's where me and Willow both pull all of our inspiration from to change the world," adding, "It all comes from a concept of affecting the world in a positive way and leaving it better than it was than when we came."
That calling to project positive change into the world isn't limited to one thing, either — Willow and Jaden Smith want to soak every aspect of their lives in good energy. "I feel like that enters into all types of different areas because there are so many different outlets that life has to offer for us," he continued. "That goes into technology, into music. That goes into science, into spirituality, into education."
Willow Smith admires Jaden Smith's rapping
If there's one thing that both Willow and Jaden Smith are acutely aware of, it's the importance of feminism and respecting all women from all walks of life, especially in today's climate wherein women aren't always treated equally. To that end, Willow refuses to promote or even listen to music that degrades women in any way. "Such casually degrading language and words that don't come from an intention of upliftment," she explained in an interview with Vulture. "It's coming from fear. Really, I honestly feel like it's coming from rap music."
Fortunately not all rap music is off the table for Willow, as Jaden chooses to create rhymes that his sister happily approves of. "I listen to rap that's not misogynistic, like Jaden's raps, and rap that's actually rhythm and poetry," she continued. "Rap can be amazing and I'm glad that Jaden is holding space for conscious rap because that's so important." It really is, Willow!
When it comes to social media, Willow and Jaden Smith share a goal
It's not lost on Willow and Jaden Smith that they were born into fame, thanks to the social capital of their high-profile parents. They also know plenty of folks who are famous for, well, basically just being famous on social media. "I know so many kids who literally are, like, Instagram-famous," Willow shared during a chat with Interview magazine. "They have done nothing but post pictures on Instagram. And they have followings."
But that's not how Willow and Jaden roll on Instagram and other social media platforms, as they have a very deliberate mission and a pointed message for others. "Then there's people, like me and Jaden, who want to utilize social media to elevate the consciousness of those people who feel like all they want from social media is to be famous," she continued. "Like, you can actually be a voice. You can actually say something that's inspiring and not just make people feel like you need to buy things and be a certain way." She does have a point!
Willow Smith might collaborate with Jaden Smith on music in the future
Although Willow and Jaden Smith are very similar in a number of ways — they're both philosophical, they share similar views of the world, and they're both musicians — in some ways they're very different. One area in which this is the case is their musical styles, as Willow tells it. "We're very, very different artists," she revealed in a 2017 interview with Vulture. It's true, as Willow sings and plays the guitar, while Jaden raps over bombastic beats.
That doesn't mean Jaden and Willow never work together on musical projects, though. For one, they already went on tour together in 2019, and they shared the stage at Coachella earlier that year as well. As for what the siblings might do together in the future? "I definitely think one day we'll put out an album that is a collaboration of both of us," Willow continued. "But right now in this point in our lives, we're both really figuring out who we are."
Jaden Smith says he and Willow Smith are a "band"
Despite the fact that Willow and Jaden Smith are two distinct musical acts, they've still complemented one another with their unique artistic undertakings. According to Jaden, the two are connected in a special way, similar to another famous hip hop duo that they both admire. "Jaden and Willow are like a band," he explained in an interview with Complex. "Me and Willow are like OutKast except we only ever release individual albums." Given the synergy between OutKast's André "André 3000" Benjamin and Antwan "Big Boi" Patton, you can see that Jaden appreciates the way he connects with his sister.
While what being a band means to Jaden isn't 100 percent clear, the siblings definitely have their own unique brands that pair well together. "It's like we're not really a band, but we kind of are," Jaden continued. "It's Jaden and Willow, we have to have the uniform names." They've certainly got that brand on lock because no one else comes to mind when you hear their names mentioned in connection with one another.
Jaden Smith says Willow Smith is better than him at everything
Sibling rivalry is a natural outgrowth of having brothers and sisters, which anyone who has a sibling will tell you. As long as there is more than one child in the home, chances are there's going to be a little bit of competition for attention, affection, and resources — avoiding sibling rivalry in your home is one of the benefits of only having one child. But as Jaden Smith tells it, there was never anything to compete about in their home because Willow Smith was just naturally superior. "We never really felt competitive because Willow's always been better than me at everything," he told Interview magazine. "There's been no competition."
Jaden sees evidence of that in his sister's accomplishments, which were always one step ahead of him. "Willow started making music first. I was like, 'My younger sister is, like, 4, and she's making all these fire songs,'" he continued. "Willow was doing all these things, about to have record label deals at like the age of 6, and I was like, 'I feel like I'm underachieving.'" And that's despite the fact that he starred in a major motion picture before he was even 10 years old!
Jaden Smith didn't pressure Willow Smith when they were growing up
One thing that's well-known about Willow and Jaden Smith is that they don't subscribe to traditional gender and sexuality norms. Jaden has stepped out wearing skirts both on the runway and on the street, and Willow has come out as both bisexual and polyfidelitous.
Part of the reason the pair are so open about these norm-bucking decisions is because of their upbringing, as they were free to explore those sides of themselves without judgment. "Well, I grew up with two brothers and no one ever really pushed a feminine thing on me," Willow recalled in an interview with Harper's Bazaar. "You know what I mean?"
Additionally, parents Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith didn't teach Willow and Jaden that traditional gender and sexuality norms were, well, normal. "No one was like, 'Oh, your brothers are this and you're this, so you need to act this,' so I just grew up equal, like we're all the same basically," Willow continued. What a breath of fresh air!
Willow and Jaden Smith feel misunderstood by older generations
If someone were to appoint individuals to be spokespeople for Gen Z, they'd likely select Willow and Jaden Smith for the job. Both digital natives who've grown up in the age of social media, the duo possess all of the characteristics of the generational cohort, something that Willow feels their elders don't fully comprehend. "It seems like they don't understand our thought process," she shared while speaking with Interview magazine. "Or, like, things have happened in the past that they're still mad about. We want to accept them and move forward."
That's not to say that Jaden and Willow don't understand older generations, though, as they say they can identify what the problems are with their elders. "I mean, I can definitely see things that have happened in the past that they're holding on to and things that are happening right now that bog them down," Willow continued. "But this generation wants to transcend them."
Willow and Jaden Smith say they're both misfits
Willow and Jaden Smith are part of an art collective they've established called MSFTSrep. With the goal of raising humanity's consciousness via science and art, the members of the collective know that they're outsiders — misfits, even. "I think the whole world would now consider us misfits more than before," Jaden declared in an interview with Gulf News. "I think we do a lot of things that are out of the ordinary, so yeah, we'd consider us misfits."
The mission of MSFTSrep might sound a little ambitious, but Jaden and Willow believe in the work they're doing. By drawing on their existing fame and social capital, Jaden and Willow believe they can reach out to people and help them change for the better. "We have the internet so we can reach directly to the individual without needing anybody to explain what we're saying, we can just reach straight to the individual," he continued. "And going at the individual is how you change the whole."
Willow and Jaden Smith have a different relationship in their private lives
On the surface, it might appear that Willow and Jaden Smith's relationship is on display for the entire world to see. But as Jaden tells it, that's not actually the case. "How people look at us in public is not how we actually are in private," he revealed to Interview magazine. "It's just that we choose not to tell everyone everything." Sounds a little mysterious, no?
Rather than constantly availing themselves for public consumption, Jaden and Willow prefer to reserve that energy for the kindred spirits who are special to them. "We don't like people to really know what's happening with us or what we're into," Jaden continued. "The only thing that we want to keep people updated with is that we want to keep the kids that are following us, the kids that are looking up to us updated on what we're learning and what we're thinking about life."
Willow Smith says that her and Jaden Smith's voices sound "like chocolate" together
If and when the future musical collaboration between Willow and Jaden Smith winds up happening, it's likely that it will sound amazing, as Willow tells it. "Me and Jaden just figured out that our voices sound like chocolate together," she explained in a 2014 interview with The New York Times. "As good as chocolate tastes, it sounds that good." Given how tasty chocolate can be, we can't wait to hear it.
But if the pair ever do release such a delicious duet, don't think that they'd do it for their fans or even their haters — they're more interested in entertaining themselves. "Honestly, we're just trying to make music that we think is cool," Jaden added. "We don't think a lot of the music out there is that cool. So we make our own music." Fair enough, Jaden!
Jaden Smith thinks he and Willow Smith were "much cooler" when they were younger
Let's face it: Willow and Jaden Smith really are just impossibly cool. With their cutting-edge fashion choices, innovative artistic endeavors, and highly individualistic personalities, they're creating and curating while the rest of us are just trying to stay current. But according to Jaden, he and his sister were even more admirable when they were little kids. "Nobody knows that Willow and I were much, much cooler before," he confessed to Interview magazine. "Like, before people were looking at the things that we were doing, we were so much more, like, method with fashion. We really went all the way." Well, maybe Will, Jada, and Trey have an idea?
Without the pressure of the world's attention, Jaden says that they had real freedom and made one-of-a-kind sartorial decisions. "We went the extra mile on everything because there was no one looking at us," he continued. "We've been through the roof, with ludicrous fashion ideas since we were extremely young."