Jaden and Willow Smith cover Interview magazine’s September 2016 issue. Inside the publication, the brother-sister pair talk about everything from social media to their parents. Check out highlights from their interview with “The Voice” judge and producer Pharrell Williams below.
1. They want to utilize social media to elevate the consciousness of young people:
Willow: And 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. [laughs] 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.
Jaden: It’s good to be happy and tell us how cool your life is and how awesome you are on social media. That’s great because it inspires other people to be happy, too. But a lot of times, people are trying to be happy in the wrong ways—with money or with different things that are not true happiness. It’s leading people down a rabbit hole that actually doesn’t exist. So people think like, “Yo, once I get this money and these cars and stuff, I’ma be so happy.” But that’s not true. And I feel like that’s why it’s very important to educate people on different things while you are actually on social media.
2. Their Parents, Will Smith and Jada Pinkett-Smith, are their biggest inspirations:
Willow: My parents. Growing up, all I saw was my parents trying to be the best people they could be, and people coming to them for wisdom, coming to them for guidance, and them not putting themselves on a pedestal, but literally being face-to-face with these people and saying, “I’m no better than you, but the fact that you’re coming to me to reach some sort of enlightenment or to shine a light on something, that makes me feel love and gratitude for you.” They always give back what people give to them. And sometimes they keep giving and giving and giving. And some people don’t feel like they need to give anything back because it’s like, “Oh, if you’re famous, you can just keep giving, and it doesn’t matter.” It’s not just about money. It’s not just about giving people gifts or whatever. What my parents have given to me is not anything that has to do with money or success or anything that society says people should be focusing on—it’s something spiritual that only certain people can grasp and accept. And that’s how I act and move in the world today.
Jaden: I 100 percent agree with Willow on that one. My parents are definitely my biggest role models. And that’s where me and Willow both pull all of our inspiration from to change the world. 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. 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. That goes into technology, into music. That goes into science, into spirituality, into education. Where me and Willow come from, a lot of it is trying to make society more efficient, so that kids don’t cry, like, “Why do I have to go to school?” Instead, kids are like, “Yeah! I’m so glad to go to school! I’m a better person than I was yesterday, and I can help people.”
Willow: Exactly!
Jaden: That’s we’re trying to get to. Where every kid goes to school, and like 50 percent of children don’t drop out. Where they feel like their teachers are actually on their side. Or they feel like law enforcement is actually on their side. We want to create a society that is working for us and with us—and we’re working for society, not against it.
3. Willow feels like Jaden is her twin:
Willow: Yeah. It’s crazy, the sibling dynamic. I could’ve spent my entire childhood like, “I have to love this person.” And it becomes a chore. But our parents were never like, “You have to love them.” 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.” And throughout us realizing ourselves and realizing each other, we just opened our eyes and were like, “Damn, you are the yin to my yang.” Not a lot of siblings have that opportunity, because they’re always being pushed together so much. They need their time apart in order to realize themselves and realize who they are.
