Jada to Direct film.

Jada Pinkett-Smith, who was last seen in "Reign Over Me," will make her directorial debut with "The Human Contract." Will Smith and his producing partner James Lassiter will produce through their Overbrook Entertainment. Casting is still ongoing. Shooting is expected to start on Nov. 5 in Los Angeles.

Watch and listen to a special reading of The Great Tomato Adventure by Jada Pinkett Smith.

Click Here for Power Of Parents, A Child Safety And Awareness Program
Watch and listen to a special reading of The Great Tomato Adventure by Jada Pinkett Smith.

Click Here To Watch A Special reading of The Great Tomato Adventure, by Jada Pinkett Smith, this may take a moment to download, so please be patient.
For more info on Jada Koren Pinkett Smith, visit www.thejadapages.com

Jada on Upscale Magazine

JADA ON THE COVER OF UPSCALE MAGAZINE
Simply Jada, Her Style, Her Beauty, Her Passion, Her Success
APR 2007!

AT NEWS STANDS KNOW! GET YOUR COPY TODAY
For more info on Jada Koren Pinkett Smith, visit www.thejadapages.com

Is this it?

Is this it?

She's plays in a band, stars in new film Reign Over Me and is Will Smith's other half. But what is Jada Pinkett Smith doing for the rest of her life?
Saturday April 21, 2007, The Guardian

Stay-at-home mum... Jada Pinkett Smith in Reign Over Me
Who's that girl?
I guess it would be Janeane, the girl in Reign Over Me. Janeane is Don Cheadle's wife and she's a stay-at-home wife and mother having a difficult time with the resurgence of the friendship between the characters of Adam Sandler's character and Don's [after Sandler's family dies on 9/11].

How can I be sad?

Well 9/11 brought up a lot of questions and helped me redefine and really look at life and look how I was really seeing things. It helped me understand the necessity to have understanding. It got me back into the idea of making sure my children had an understanding of all religions before they decide what they want to practice.


Deal or no deal?
Deal! We're filming the pilot for my TV show MILF and Cookies and it's coming along. For our show MILF means "mother I'd like to figure out". It has many different meanings actually. It just depends how crude you want to go with it. It just so happens ours is not so crude.

Do you know the way to San Jose?

Actually I don't. But I've been there. I've flown there.

Who do you love?

I love my husband. I love my family [children Jaden and Willow, with Will Smith]. I love my friends. And I love myself very much. I would say that last bit has been a journey. I think that's just part of growing up. You're constantly transforming and constantly trying to keep up with yourself. As long as we stay on top of ourselves and we are responsible for ourselves I think it's not that hard.

How deep is your love?

Very deep. I love people very deeply and very hard.

Who are you fighting for?

No one really at this point in time to be honest. Not even myself. I'm pretty much done with the fighting.

Who needs guitars anyway?

Oh absolutely. We definitely need guitars. My band Wicked Wisdom is about to go into the studio to do a second album so we're excited about that. We're going to tour but we don't want to go back out until we have our new material.

Who killed the electric car?

Well shame on them for killing the electric car but that's a good question. We have a Lexus hybrid SUV at home though. We enjoy it very much.

What are you doing for the rest of your life?

Good question. Isn't that quite the mystery? I don't know how much I will be acting. I have to be really tempted by something. I get offered a lot of things but they're not necessarily good which is one of the reasons I'm moving a little behind the scenes. I decided to do this film because I was really intrigued not necessarily by the role of Janeane but the idea of the movie. I like what it's saying.

Who let the dogs out?

I have lots of dogs and usually we let the dogs out to protect the perimeter. We've got five and they're all mutts. Sometimes we walk the dogs but they need to be walked about three times a day so we have people who come and walk them if we can't. But usually at weekends we take our dogs for hikes up into the hills.

Is this it?

No. I wouldn't say "this is it". It's never "this is it" for me.

· Reign Over Me is out now


For more info on Jada Koren Pinkett Smith, visit www.thejadapages.com

I won't let my career break my marriage

I won't let my career break my marriage

Though her husband Will Smith and she are both successful film stars, Jada Pinkett said she would willingly give up acting if it ever came down to a choice between career and marriage.

'I'm aware how busy careers can quickly lead to divorce, but I'm not going to let that happen to us,' she said.

'I'll give up my career before I let it break up our marriage. I made it clear to Will that I'd throw it away completely, which is what I'm doing to a certain extent.'

Married for 10 years, Jada and Will have two children - their son Jaden Christopher, 8, who recently starred with his father in 'The Pursuit Of Happyness', and daughter Willow, 6, reports www.hollywood.tv

In her latest film 'Reign Over Me', Jada plays a wife who's trapped in an unhappy marriage, a role that conversely taught her even more what it takes to make a marriage work.

'Even though you have this union as husband and wife, you can never forget who you are, just simply as yourself.

'If you lose yourself then everything else will fall out. There is no relationship to be had if you don't have a relationship with yourself first,' she said.


For more info on Jada Koren Pinkett Smith, visit www.thejadapages.com

Analyse this: Jada Pinkett Smith

Analyse this: Jada Pinkett Smith

by TIFFANY ROSE
8th April 2007

At a mere 5ft, Jada Pinkett Smith may be petite, but the 35-year-old actress/singer and TV producer lives life large with her husband of ten years, movie star Will Smith. They have two children - a son Jaden, eight (who co-starred alongside his dad in The Pursuit Of Happyness) and daughter Willow, five. Jada is best known for her roles in The Nutty Professor, The Matrix and Collateral. Her new film, Reign Over Me, explores the effect on a man of losing his family on 9/11.

WHAT WERE YOUR DREAMS AS A CHILD?

To be a star! (Laughs) Oh yes, since I was three I wanted to be a star. I’ve achieved my dream. Once I got that first movie, I was like: ‘Done!’ Finished!’

IS THERE ANYTHING YOU ARE TRYING TO QUIT BUT CAN’T?

I'm one of those people who likes to do 100 things at once. There’s my heavy metal band Wicked Wisdom, as well as acting and producing television shows and movies - so I’m trying to focus on one. It’s a hard thing, because I’m a creative person and I’m constantly coming up with new ideas and find it hard to put anything on the backburner.

WHO WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE STUCK IN AN ELEVATOR WITH?

Will. That could be so sexy...no windows. We could have some fun.

YOU AND WILL HAVE A LOT IN COMMON. WHAT’S THE BIGGEST DIFFERENCE AT HOME?

You can’t have two superstars in the family. I will never have Will’s career, and I can’t do that because my kids wouldn’t have parents.

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST EXTRAVAGANCE?

I’M a jewellery whore! I’m not wearing much today but it’s only the morning...

WHAT IS YOUR GREATEST REGRET?

I have a few, but I’ve realised that without those regrets I wouldn’t even be close to the person I am today. I always say that pain is a blessing, because pain is the biggest motivator for change.

ARE YOU AN OPEN BOOK WHEN IT COMES TO EMOTIONS?

Who me? Ah no! I’ve learned that you cannot let emotions run you, but that you have to be in tune and connected to how you feel.

WHAT’S THE MOST ROMANTIC THING WILL’S DONE FOR YOU?

He's always doing really romantic things for me. If I’m going to a city to do a Press call, he’ll call the hotel and tell them to lay rose petals from the door to the bedroom and then he’ll have them arrange a heart in rose petals on the bed with a note inside saying: ‘I miss you already - love, Me.’

DO YOU THINK YOU ARE MORE LIKE YOUR MOTHER OR YOUR FATHER?

Both. All of my creativity and my wild mental journeys come from my father and I would say that my attitude, and my go-get-them kind of spirit would be from my mother.

WAS THERE A DEFINING MOMENT WHEN YOU REALISED YOU WERE FAMOUS?

I still haven’t realised that yet. It’s crazy because I’ve never looked at myself in that way. I’m still waiting for that defining moment.

WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR WEIRDEST EXPERIENCE WITH A FAN?

You'd think Will would get the crazies, but no -it’s my little 5ft-nothing ass! I had a weird experience in London once. A maid got into my hotel room and left notes for me in a Bible telling me how God had made a calling to her that I was going to save her. She got my mobile number and she was leaving me messages. It was a scary one.

WHAT’S YOUR GUILTY PLEASURE?

Haagen Dazs Egg Nog ice cream. Once I have a taste of that, consider it an empty carton.

YOUR NEW FILM IS ABOUT 9/11. WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO STAR IN IT?

I play the wife of a man (Don Cheadle) whose best friend (Adam Sandler) loses his family on 9/11. The story was interesting in that it explored the people who’ve been left behind, and who’ve lost loved ones. It makes you appreciate what you have.


by TIFFANY ROSE
8th April 2007



For more info on Jada Koren Pinkett Smith, visit www.thejadapages.com

Jada's On Redbook, April 2007

JADA ON COVER OF REDBOOK MAGAZINE
The Dark Secrets She Tells No One-not even Will
APR 2007!

AT NEWS STANDS KNOW! GET YOUR COPY TODAY
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A Woman Of Power

A Woman Of Power

JADA Pinkett-Smith, the wife of Hollywood star Will Smith, knows that some people find her too hot-blooded to handle.
By Vicky Roach

The Matrix producer Joel Silver experienced the actor-producer-singer's fury first hand just two days before the premiere of his blockbusting sci-fi sequel.

After a falling out over a promotional appearance on MTV that would have included a shopping tour (Pinkett Smith thought the idea cheesy), she and her famous spouse refused to appear at the star-studded after party.

The 35-year-old mother of two says strong women, such as the character she plays in her latest film, the post-September 11 buddy movie Reign Over Me, get a bad rap.

"Feminine energy, even at its most subtle, can be overwhelming. So you start to understand why very extroverted feminine energy can be offensive and misunderstood.

"At the same time, you have to be who you are. You can't conform to the pleasures of others, so you have to surround yourself with people who can handle that strength."

People such as Smith, who Pinkett Smith describes as a human dynamo.

"He couldn't be the megastar - mega man - that he is without being incredibly powerful," says his wife of 10 years. "You can understand why he would need a woman of intense power to be by his side."

Son Jaden is obviously drawing from the same high-voltage power grid as his A-list parents.
Last year the assured eight-year-old turned in a critically acclaimed performance opposite his Oscar-nominated father in The Pursuit Of Happyness.

"You wish you could take credit for your kids," says Pinkett Smith, "but the truth is, Jaden was born that way."

Far from discouraging her children from joining what she describes as the "family business", the actress actively embraces the idea.

"I hope to God my kids decide the entertainment business is something they want to do, because that's an area where Will and I could give great advice."

Pinkett Smith doesn't believe the celebrity life is any tougher to survive,intact, than any other.

"Life is tough. If you try to protect your kids ... well, that's a fallacy. It's not going to happen. You have to give your kids the tools they need to cope with life."

She acknowledges the challenges involved in living a life under the media microscope, but says, "My kids have grown up with that. For them, it wouldn't be as much of an adjustment as it was for Will and I. They were born into it, they don't know any different. They're ahead of the game, if you know what I mean."

On the other hand, it's quite possible that Jaden, daughter Willow, 6, and Will's son Trey, 14, from his previous marriage to actress Sheree Zampino, may well decide they want nothing to do with the crazy world of showbusiness. And that would be all right with her too.

"Doctor, nurse, trash man ... it's all the same to me."

Pinkett Smith, who gained widespread attention for her role opposite Eddie Murphy in The Nutty Professor (1996), plays an underappreciated dentist's wife in Reign Over Me, the latest film from director Mike Binder (The Upside Of Anger).

Don Cheadle plays her husband, Alan, a decent man in the grip of a mid-life crisis. He finds an unlikely lifeline in a chance encounter with his college room mate (a serious Adam Sandler), a man who has been traumatised by the death of his wife and two daughters. Alan finds Charlie's untethered lifestyle strangely liberating.

Their relationship - forged around late-night movies, pub gigs and jam sessions - puts him back in touch with his inner adolescent.

Pinkett Smith, who moon-lights as the frontwoman for a "progressive/aggressive" metal band, understands the attraction.

"I look at the Don Cheadle character and see a guy who has lost his identity in being a husband and father," says Pinkett Smith. "There's an imbalance there because he doesn't have a life other than his family life. He doesn't get to be himself.

"For me music gives me an outlet that is separate from my identity as a mother, wife, and even a movie star."

The name of her band is Wicked Wisdom.

"Wicked is a West Indian term - bad meaning good, wisdom meaning woman. So it's one bad woman."
For more info on Jada Koren Pinkett Smith, visit www.thejadapages.com

Jada, Will and Jaden where at the 79th Annual Academy Awards.

The best-dressed family was Jada Pinkett Smith, Jaden Christopher Syre Smith and Will Smith. While the guys chose tuxedos by David August, Jada wore a golden yellow Carolina Herrera with a mermaid hem. She looked Smoking Hot! Bosslady say, "Jaden Is Handsome, He's Cute!"

Jaden Smith

Jaden was one of the presenters at the Oscars, and his Mother and Father sat in the front row.

Will and Jaden stareed in, "The Pursuit Of Happyness" together.The Pursuit Of Happyness

For more info on Jada Koren Pinkett Smith, visit www.thejadapages.com

Jada Pinkett Smith gives $1 million to school

Jada Pinkett Smith gives $1 million to school

Associated Press
BALTIMORE -- Jada Pinkett Smith donated $1 million to the high school from which she graduated and asked that a theater there be dedicated to one of her classmates, Tupac Shakur.


The Baltimore School for the Arts announced the donation for a renovation and expansion on Monday, and said it will name its new theater for her.


The donation comes from the Will and Jada Smith Family Foundation, which is based in Baltimore. They had previously given $112,500 to the school.


When a $30 million expansion program is finished in the fall of 2007, the school will increase its enrollment from 316 to 375 students.


"It means a lot when you're a teacher and your most famous alumnus comes back to give a donation," said Donald Hicken, head of the school's theater department since its founding in 1980 and Pinkett Smith's former theater teacher. "It really says a lot to the community that the school matters in people's lives."


Karen Banfield Evans, executive director of the Smith Family Foundation, and Pinkett Smith's aunt, said the actress was moved by the school's advances since she graduated in 1989.


Pinkett Smith wanted the theater named for Shakur because of the friendship they developed at the school. Shakur died in 1996 after a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas.


Pinkett Smith has appeared in such movies as "Ali," "Collateral" and the Matrix series. Most recently, she was the voice of the hippo Gloria in the animated film "Madagascar."
Click Here For More Information


For more info on Jada Koren Pinkett Smith, visit www.thejadapages.com

Jada Pinkett Smith Will Be On The Tyra Banks Show, Nov 10th

JADA PINKETT SMITH Will Be On The Tyra Banks Show, Nov 10th

Check Your Local Listings For Time and Station.
Tyra Banks Show

For more info on Jada Koren Pinkett Smith, visit www.thejadapages.com

JADA PINKETT SMITH Says Band Is Not A Gimmick

JADA PINKETT SMITH Says Band Is Not A Gimmick

Click Below To Watch The Video Interview Of Jada
Taking a break from her acting career, Jada Pinkett Smith heads up nu-metal rock band, Wicked Wisdom.


For more info on Jada Koren Pinkett Smith, visit www.thejadapages.com

JADA ON COVER OF REDBOOK, AUG 2006

JADA ON COVER OF REDBOOK MAGAZINE
How she's making her most secret dream come true
AUG 2006!

AT NEWS STANDS KNOW! GET YOUR COPY TODAY
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Jada's Band, "Wicked Wisdom" in Vibe Magazine, July 2006!

JADA'S BAND, "WICKED WISDOM" in VIBE MAGAZINE
JADA'S WICKED WISDOM, PRECIOUS METAL
JULY 2006!

Pocket, Fish, Rio, Wirm, & Jada Koren
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JADA'S BAND, "WICKED WISDOM" TO PERFORM AT DOWNLOAD 2006

JADA'S BAND, "WICKED WISDOM"
WILL PERFORM AT DOWNLOAD 2006, UK
ON JUNE 9TH 2006!

Wirm

Mr. Fish

Rio

Jada & Pocket

DON'T MISS IT!
For more info on Jada Koren Pinkett Smith, visit www.thejadapages.com

Wicked Wisdom Tour Dates

DON'T MISS JADA AND HER BAND WICKED WISDOM
WICKED WISDOM TOUR DATES BELOW
MAY 19TH THRU JUNE 17TH

City: Tempe, AZ 85282
Date: May 19, 2006
Venue: The Clubhouse

City: Farmington, NM 87401
Date: May 20, 2006
Venue: Gator's

City: Lubbock, TX 79401
Date: May 21, 2006
Venue: Southbeach

City: Houston, TX 77058
Date: May 23, 2006
Venue: Scoutbar

City: Dallas, TX 75226
Date: May 24, 2006
Venue: Curtain Club

City: Harker Heights, TX 76548
Date: May 25, 2006
Venue: Heroe's R&R Club

City: Odessa, TX
Date: May 26, 2006
Venue: Dos Amigos

City: Hutchinson, KS 67501
Date: May 27, 2006
Venue: McGraws

City: Baton Rouge, LA 70808
Date: May 30, 2006
Venue: Clicks

City: Little Rock, AR 72202
Date: May 31, 2006
Venue: Juanita's Cantina Ballroom

City: Springfield, MO 65807
Date: Jun 01, 2006
Venue: Remmingtons

City: Toledo, OH
Date: June 03, 2006
Venue: Headliners

City: Columbus, OH 43229
Date: June 04, 2006
Venue: Al Rosa

City: Cedar Rapids, IA 52405
Date: June 16, 2006
Venue: Emerald City

City: Omaha, NE 68108
Date: June 17, 2006
Venue: Sokol Auditorium



For more info on Jada Koren Pinkett Smith, visit www.thejadapages.com

JADA IS ON COVER OF ESSENCE MAGAZINE!

JADA IS ON THE COVER OF ESSENCE MAGAZINE
ON HER PAINFUL STRUGGLE TO LOVE HERSELF AND HOW WILL SAVED HER LIFE
MAY 2006!

AT NEWS STANDS KNOW! GET YOUR COPY TODAY
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'Matrix' Actress Shows Her Metal Side.

'Matrix' actress shows her metal side
Pinkett Smith's band brings rock

By Angie Fenton
afenton@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal

Jada Pinkett Smith and her band, Wicked Wisdom, rocked Jillian's last night — much to the surprise of some of her fans.

Best known for her role as "Niobe" in "The Matrix" sequels, Pinkett Smith commanded the microphone as part of the opening act of a four-band package that featured headliner Sevendust.

Her husband, actor Will Smith, slipped in a side door and remained in the shadows, where he stood — his ball cap tilted to one side — and head-banged to the heavy metal tunes.

Pinkett Smith — who goes by Jada Koren on stage — proved she's not playing at being a rocker. Backed by a superb lineup of musicians, she delivered powerful, honest lyrics and captured the audience's attention, keeping them in awe for the duration of a raucous 20-minute set.

"It's stunning and astonishing to see her up there," said Chad Polen, 27.

Polen, of Petersburg, Ind., first saw Wicked Wisdom in Cincinnati in early February.

"When people find out Jada's for real — she's doing what she loves, what she does best — Wicked Wisdom brings the people," he said.

The band also welcomes the people.

After the performance, Pinkett Smith — along with her lead guitarist Pocket; rhythm guitarist Cameron Graves; bass guitarist Rio; and founding member of the 1990s band Fishbone, Phillip Fisher, on drums — accepted hugs and handshakes, signed autographs and genuinely seemed to enjoy the interaction with fans.

Bosslady & Jada Pinkett Smith

"You're not supposed to separate yourself from your people," Fisher said.

As a celebrity who is often supposed to be inaccessible to the public, Pinkett Smith, 34, said Wicked Wisdom affords her the opportunity to inhabit an "accessible space. ... You have to find a way to connect with your audience. I can't create any other way."

The band is on the final leg of a tour to promote its debut album, which dropped late last month. Playing the River City was a good time, Pinkett Smith said, and she hopes to return.

"We won't be back for Derby — but we will be back."

Reporter Angie Fenton can be reached at (502) 582-7143.

For more info on Jada Pinkett Smith, visit www.thejadapages.com

Watch Wicked Wisdom's Performance On Carson Daly

Watch Wicked Wisdom's Performance On Carson Daly

Jada Koren, AKA Jada Pinkett Smith
Click Here To View Wicked Wisdom Video
It's very large an may take a few minutes to load.
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GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LOOKS!

A palette of colors ruled the red carpet

Diana McKeon Charkalis, Staff Writer
The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Queen, Jada Pinkett Smith
Colors taken from nature - flowers, birds and the earth - ruled the red carpet this year, with fashion trends all over the rainbow.
And in most cases, it worked.

Canary yellow isn't an easy color, but Michelle Williams managed to carry it off in a gown decked with a flattering ruffled V-neckline, accented by a 19th-century diamond fringe necklace from Fred Leighton.

Salma Hayek electrified in a vibrant blue gown, and Jennifer Lopez glowed in green. Jada Pinkett Smith was toned and buff in a bright blue strapless column gown by Roberto Cavalli.

Jessica Alba sparkled like Oscar himself in gold Versace and cited her unique regimen for fitting into an Oscar dress. "I exercise, drink water and eat dessert."

Several stars chose to go light, opting for various shades of cream.

These included Reese Witherspoon in a V-necked, sweeping gown, featuring rows of silver beads; Nicole Kidman in a strapless sheath adorned with elaborate decorative braid across the front; and Uma Thurman in a cap-sleeved, chiffon-skirted affair.

Presenter Naomi Watts joined in the ruffled look, wearing a one-shoulder soft pink Givenchy. She was at the Oscars to introduce Dolly Parton, who jokingly deemed herself the "Southern belle of the ball" as she made her way to the door of the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. Parton was also pretty in pink in a gown designed by Robert Behar of Paris. She wore $2 million in diamonds from Fred Leighton.

Black was also back. Rachel Weisz was demure in a that shade from Narciso Rodriguez, and cited pregnancy hormones as the reason for her unusual sense of calm.

"Otherwise, I wouldn't even be able to speak right now," she told one interviewer.

Felicity

Huffman was also decked out in black, in a sweeping gown with a plunging neckline. She teared up and smeared her makeup when she viewed a clip of her "Desperate" co-stars wishing her luck. Jennifer Aniston was in a black tank gown by Rochas with a long train and a vintage platinum-and-diamond Bulgari necklace from the 1930s.

For some attendees, there was no need to accessorize with a bag. Amy Adams wore a chocolate Carolina Herrera gown with pockets. Sandra Bullock's elegant strapless navy blue gown from Angel Sanchez also had them, so that her date, Keanu Reeves, "wouldn't have to hold anything for her."

Charlize Theron was wrapped in a forest-green, handpainted gown with an enormous bow on one shoulder designed by John Galliano for Christian Dior.

Keira Knightley looked sultry in an eggplant-color Vera Wang gown made of taffeta. It was complimented by a necklace of emeralds, rubies and diamonds from the Bulgari archives and gold sandals with multiple ankle straps by Jimmy Choo. The one-shoulder form-fitting dress gave even Knightley herself pause.

"I can't actually walk," she noted. "But I can stand rather well."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.


ALSO:

Jada Pinkett Bans Will Smith From Dressing Room

Mr. Smith, Acting A Clown
Will Smith is banished from his actress wife Jada Pinkett's dressing room when she prepares for big awards shows because he's too much of a prankster. Jada reveals she can't risk her fun-loving husband ruining her look and insists he leaves her alone while she dresses.

Wearing Roberto Cavalli to the Oscars last night, Jada insisted Smith gave her a morning to herself.

Speaking on the red carpet last night, she said, "On days like this he has a separate dressing room because Will likes to clown and he likes to play too much and really this is a very serious situation, so we have to keep our rooms separate."

Starpulse News Blog

For more info on Jada Pinkett Smith, visit www.thejadapages.com

Wicked Wisdom To Perform On Last Call with Carson Daly, March 3rd

WICKED WISDOM IS GOING TO PERFORM ON
"LAST CALL WITH CARSON DALY"
FRIDAY, MARCH, 3rd 2006!

GET YOUR CD

ALBUM IN STORES NOW!

For more info on Jada Koren Pinkett Smith, visit www.thejadapages.com

Wicked Wisdom's New CD Is Out Today!

Wicked Wisdom's New CD Is Out Today!

Wicked Wisdom's New CD

GET YOURS!

Wicked Wisdom Will Be Performing Live On Fuse Network's, "Daily Download"

Wicked Wisdom will be performing live on Fuse Network's "daily download"
Date: February 21, 2006
Check your local listings for the time

For more info on Jada Koren Pinkett Smith, visit www.thejadapages.com

It's A Different World For Jada Pinkett Smith: Actress Turns Metalhead

It's a different world for Jada Pinkett Smith: Actress turns metalhead

Kerry Gold, CanWest News Service

Published: February 17, 2006

VANCOUVER--Jada Pinkett Smith has left the comforts of Hollywood to become the front woman for a metal band called Wicked Wisdom.

Jada Koren, AKA Jada Pinkett Smith

Her hair is an explosion, her sinewy arm muscles are displayed in sleeveless T-shirts. And her usually smiling face is a rictus of pain, her voice a wail of frustration -- belting out, even spitting out, lyrics of songs with names like Bleed and You Can't Handle This.

This isn't the pretty Jada, in gowns that show off her diminutive coke-bottle figure and jewels that complement the fine planes of her face.

Introducing angry Jada, spawn of Satan.

"In this day and age when people are so afraid to feel, I like to create a space where if you want to cry, come cry. You want to bash somebody's head open in the pit? Go right ahead,'' says Pinkett Smith. "You know what I mean?''

She doesn't mean that literally, because she also admires the way metalheads look out for each other in the pit. But she's a woman who's discovered her aggressive side, and it feels good, very good.
"I do get a charge out of being aggressive. I like being in a forum where it's acceptable, and this is that forum.

"It's hard because in Hollywood I've had to shut down that aspect of myself, because people didn't like it. They couldn't connect to it. They're like, `Uh uh. She's a ball-breaker, she's trying to castrate us.'

"It's not that. I like to get my little growl on too once in a while. So it's nice to have this space, where I can be that, and then I can go back to Hollywood and I can play my little softer roles for them so that everybody's not all scared and intimidated, then the guys out here on the road are like, `Give it to us. We want it! We want it as hard as you can bring it chick!'

"It's nice to have the two worlds to go back and forth.''

The male-dominated world of metal doesn't intimidate her either, because she's used to that.
"Just the industry I come from, it's very male dominated,'' says Pinkett Smith, who is 34.
Groupies? She's got them, male and female. But that's nothing new, either.

"You get groupie guys and groupie girls -- this is rock 'n' roll baby, you know how it goes,'' she says, laughing.

(It should be noted that Pinkett Smith has a raunchy laugh to rival that of Billy Idol. It is a laugh filled with subtext.)

"The girls, yeah, they let you know. Even in Hollywood you get that. Definitely. Big time, it's the thing.

"The one great thing about doing this now is I'm straight edge. I don't drink, don't do drugs. When I was younger, I did all that stuff.

"I'm anchored, I have a family. I know what all that is `cause I've done it all. All that party shit, been there, done that. Not impressed with it at all. I'll go out and hang out for a little while, but I've been doing that since I was 12, so whatever.''

She may be accustomed to A-list treatment on the arm of her extremely famous husband, Will Smith, but as a newcomer to the metal scene, she's had to endure such indignities as the side-stage treatment at Ozzfest. In the humbling early morning time-slot, for a crowd of mildly curious metal fans who are already naturally intolerant to red-carpet celebrities, she's had to work hard to win them over. On good nights, she's had them moshing. On bad nights, she's been booed.

The question, of course, is why bother? It's a question she's had to answer repeatedly as she does interviews to promote the band's North American tour.

"Because of the persona that I've created -- and, also you know, us being women, people think that we don't get mad. It's ugly. And that's one of the reasons I love this genre, because I'm allowed to be as ugly as I want.

"People ask me, `Why are you doing this?' It's like, `Are you kidding me?' And I'm like, `I'm doing this because it's an aspect of myself that I tried to kill. That I tried to put away and put to sleep. And I realized it was killing the whole of Jada, stealing who Jada is. And because I had to be all of those things to be complete and to be whole.

"So for me, it's been a very spiritual experience that I don't talk about that often.''
Pinkett Smith admits that singing did not come naturally to her. As a child, she wanted to sing like Freddie Mercury of Queen, and she's still a fan of the late singer. She attended art schools in Baltimore and North Carolina, where she was told that she couldn't sing.

She doesn't recall a turning point when she decided to become a metal queen, but she does remember feeling restrained and alienated from her Hollywood colleagues. There is a song on her album called Something Inside of Me, about the murder of five-year-old Samantha Runyan. She'd heard about the girl's death minutes before a red-carpet event.

"I remembered crying my eyes out, and I remember having to pull it together because... and I remember being full of so much rage and pain while I was on this red carpet. But I couldn't talk about it. And I was amongst people who couldn't care less. And I don't know if they couldn't care less meaning them personally but their mission that night on the red carpet is to do the whole Hollywood thing, whatever that is. And I was so angry, even at myself ... `Just don't go.'''

Pinkett Smith may be tapping into her spiritual side, but for other members of the band who've experienced the grind, the newfound materialism doesn't hurt, either.

As guitarist Cameron Graves points out, Pinkett Smith may be new, but her fame and wealth take the band to a level unknown for most fledgling bands. Graves, who started playing classical music at age four, has been kicking around the music scene all his young life. But playing with Wicked Wisdom has changed the rules of the game for Graves.

"It's a chess game that we're playing right now, with what is going on right here. And Jada is our queen piece on the board, man.

"`See, that's how we're trying to maneuver the situation, the project. Because of Jada's fame, I'm sorry, but it allows us to get what we need to quicker than all the rest of the bands. Yeah okay so we're not broke, and we're not riding in a van. You know what I'm saying? We're over that, we're free of that. A lot of these cats, right here, I'm working with, dude, they're not like 19- or 20-year-olds rolling around in a dirty van no more. It's serious.

"Jada has the money and the connections to get that going down, so that we're not playing around anymore with this stuff. We get right to the radio stations, right to the TV show people, right to the management.

So we can get out there faster, so we can get this project going. For real, it's a whole new level.''
"We are gonna do it our way,'' he says, busting into a raucous laugh.

"You know what I'm sayin'?''

Graves is also a member of a death metal band called Worm and plays with a jazz quartet every Tuesday night. He practises martial arts in his spare time, and is a hyper 24-year-old L.A. dude who was hired to play keyboards but learned guitar when Pinkett Smith wanted a bigger sound.

An earlier incarnation of the band, which included Wicked Wisdom's Louisiana guitarist Pocket Honore and then-Fishbone drummer Phillip Fisher, leaned toward R & B. When Graves joined, the band scrapped an album and started over again.

"Jada wanted something harder, she's a metalhead herself,'' says Graves. "She wants something powerful. She's a small woman, so she's got that whole power thing, you know? `I can't lose, I'm going to win. I need something powerful, that blows everybody out of the water, that kind of mentality.' It was kind of easy to create music to that, really.

"She's crazy man. She goes buck wild,'' he adds, giggling.

Graves knew Pinkett Smith's film career, but doesn't sound too impressed by her Hollywood connections.
"I knew a bunch of her movies. My first movie I saw of Jada's was Inkwell ... she had a cool role in there.
"But if I was to tell you the truth, me personally, I'm totally against Hollywood man. I don't like Hollywood at all. I created band-writing lyrics like, `F--- Hollywood.' I wrote a whole project off of that.

"So when I met Jada, I was still in that mentality. I would tell her, `Man, I love you Jada, but I don't like celebrities.' I played a song for her, that went, `I hate celebrities.' I told her that whole mentality is wrong, it's about commercialism and materialism. It's killing music artistically.

"And she was down with it. She was cool with it. She was cool to try to kind of represent that, a little bit.''

She's not so tomboyish that she shares a tour bus with the guys, mind you.
"She has her own bus, `cause Will already knows that on the guy bus the guys will get into guy shit, you know,'' says Graves, laughing.

"So Will is like, `We got to get Jada her own bus, so she can chill out with the candles, the vapourizer, do her own thing over there.' "But she comes over to our bus a lot and kicks it. Will's not out right now, but usually Will just kicks it on the other bus.''

Pinkett Smith is aware that her genre of choice is about authenticity, not fashion, and she's got to prove herself. Old-school metalheads don't traditionally tolerate imposters.

Says Pinkett Smith: "People need to know I'm real about it. They're like, `Uh uh, you ain't gonna come up here and do no J-Lo shit, or whatever. Not to dog Jennifer,'' she adds, quickly. "She's great at what she does. But they are, `Uh uh. We ain't doing that Hollywood shit here, chick.
" `So you better come with something or you got to go.' ''

For more info on Jada Koren Pinkett Smith, visit www.thejadapages.com

Pinkett-Smith's Rocker Role

The News Tribune. com
Pinkett-Smith's Rocker Role

Jada Koren, AKA Jada Pinkett Smith

Imagine my slack-jawed surprise last summer when I learned that Jada Pinkett Smith was scheduled to play Ozzfest. Yeah, that Jada Pinkett Smith; the woman best known for starring in “The Matrix” and “Collateral” and being married to rapper turned a-list actor Will Smith.
And imagine my confusion after I did a little more research and read that her band, Wicked Wisdom, played R&B. I had visions of thousands of agro 14-year-olds clad in black Iron Maiden concert tees hurling $4 bottles of water towards the second stage at White River Amphitheatre.
But Ms. Pinkett Smith was a no-show then for undisclosed reasons. Organizers did play a Wicked Wisdom video on the big screen behind the main stage. And, truth be told, “Something Inside of Me” sounded better than several of the second stage acts (faint as that praise may be.)
If you’re curious, you’ll finally get a chance to check out Wicked Wisdom – also Pocket Honore on lead guitar, Cameron “Wirm” Graves on rhythm guitar and keyboard, Rio Lawrence on bassand Phillip “Fish” Fisher (formerly of Fishbone) on drums – when the band opens for Sevendust Saturday at The Premier in Seattle.
The band’s self-titled debut also drops next Tuesday. And I caught up with Pinkett Smith on the phone as she and her band cruised through Nebraska recently. Here are excerpts from the conversation, with a longer version available on my Bring the Noise blog (www.thenewstribune.com/ae):
Q: I was looking forward to catching you (at Ozzfest.) What happened last year?
A: “I had to stay in San Francisco for some testing. I was getting tested for some lymph node cancer at the time. It was a pretty scary situation. Thank God everything came out negative. We found out what the problem was, but I was having some health issues, and that was the only reason I had to miss that Seattle show. I actually did the rest of the shows quite ill.” [Laughs.]
“It’s crazy, ‘cause people don’t understand. When you do this kind of stuff … it is a wear and tear on your body.”
Q: As an actor you put in those huge days, too.
A: “It’s different though because you’re in one place. … You go from your hotel or your house to your movie set. Then you sit around all day.
“The thing with music is that you’re traveling so much … and (there’s) the energy you exert on stage. And then afterwards we always go out and sign autographs for about two and a half hours for fans and stuff. It’s just a total different situation.”
Q: What about the outlet? How would you rate singing vs. acting?
A: “They both are just as pleasurable. It’s just different. I love having that exchange between the audience in that moment, you know what I mean. It’s just that immediate exchange. When you’re doing a film it’s just you and a bunch of cats on a set. …You don’t get to experience what you’re doing, really, with the audience.”
Q: There have been many other actors who have jumped from the big screen to the stage. Some have paved the way for you in a good way and some haven’t. There’s Juliette Lewis. Minnie Driver’s album was decent. Then you jump to the Corey Feldmanns. Because of that do you feel the deck is loaded in a way?
A: “It’s loaded in many different ways, you know. It’s always a harder for actors to make a musical transition than musicians to make an acting transition. But in my life I’ve gone up against so many obstacles. … I’m used to that. So whatever.” [Laughs]
Q: How did the band first come about? How do you go from having one established career to playing Ozzfest?
A: “About five years ago I decided I wanted to put a band together, actually when I came back from ‘the Matrix.’ It was something I always wanted to do … since I was a little girl. I’d see Axl Rose up there and I’d think, ‘Oh, god, why aren’t there any women doing that?’I just always wanted an opportunity to do it.
“I just decided I better do it now or never. I met Pocket, and he and I pretty much had the same ideas of where we wanted to go musically. And we went through many different transitions as far as the band was concerned. He and I are the only two original band members.
Q: I’ve only heard a little bit of your material. From what I understand you played R&B at some point.
A: “When we first started out we had this kind of R&B/rock kind of pop fusion thing happening. That didn’t really work for us. We kept playing with it and … finally got that launching pad that we wanted. And that is when we started playing around at different clubs to work the sound out. And that’s when (Ozzfest organizer) Sharon (Osbourne) saw us playing at the Viper Room.”
Q: Did she just come up to you at the show?
A: “No. I didn’t see her at the show. I just heard that she was there. … And then I get a call two days later from our office (saying) Sharon wants you to come on Ozzfest.’ You’ve gotta be … kidding me. [Laughs] I was just as shocked as anybody.”
Q: Did you think it was a joke at first?
A: “I was like I must be getting ‘Punk’d’ right now. Where is … Ashton (Kutcher)? I’m like this is not happening right now. But as I thought about it and it became obvious that this was a real invitation, I was like wow you can’t give up an opportunity like that. You just can’t. And so we went. [laughs]
Q: Given that people know you for your work as an actress, was there some hostility or cynicism on any of the dates?
A: “We only had that situation on one date, and that was probably my fault; something I really incited.
Q: What happened?
A: Oh, I’m not even gonna get into that. But the first couple of shows we had a huge learning curve. The great thing about Ozzfest is you will find out on Ozzfest that you will sink or you will swim. There’s no in between.
“The first couple of dates were really rough. Then we got to Chicago and had a great show. And from there Ozzfest really turned around for us. Word of mouth started getting better. The audiences started coming with a neutral attitude of let’s see for ourselves.. …
“The great thing about this particular genre and people that listen to this genre is they are a lot more open-minded than people would like to believe that they are. … There’s only a handful of people that are (jerks.)”
Q: I read that you actually opened for Britney Spears.
A: “Oh yeah, we actually went to Europe. We actually couldn’t have done that here in the United States, ‘cause we wouldn’t have fit with her at all. But in Europe it’s totally different, because you have all different types of musical genres mixed up.
“That trip was so wonderful for us because that’s when we did start to develop that heavier sound that we’d been looking for. … We actually wrote ‘You Can’t Handle This’ on the road in Europe.”
Q: Better tour mate: Britney or Ozzy?
A: “Umm. I have to honest, I had a great time on Ozzfest; just being able to be with those bands. I really learned so much having the opportunity to hang out with all those badass musicians. I got to go watch Mastodon play every day. It’s just like I’m running from FYE tent every day just so I can see those guys play.
“All the bands – bands on the main stage, bands on the second stage – were just so supportive of us, so nice. It was such a supportive family environment. It was nothin’ like people told me it was gonna be. I found more comradery at Ozzfest … than any other professional environment that I’ve been involved in, Hollywood included.”
Q: The past few years you haven’t been as active in film. Is that because of the music?
A: “Yeah, just being on the road. This is just a passion of mine. This is what I love to do. As far as creatively and just spiritually just what I’ve been able to learn about my country.
“Just being able to travel and reach my hands out to folks that I would never in a million years get to see and would never get to see me. … To kind of just expand the ideas and break down those preconceived notions of gender, race, you know, and the idea of ‘Hollywood is this, and people in Hollywood are that.’ You have to erase all those ideas.
Q: Do you have more films on the way?
A: Oh definitely. I’m working on a deal right now. … I’ll probably do one film this summer – might squeeze in two – then I’ll be back on the road. We’ll be working on another album, too.

For more info on Jada Koren Pinkett Smith, visit www.thejadapages.com

Wicked Wisdom’s primal rage is no act

Wicked Wisdom’s primal rage is no act

By mike usinger

Jada Koren, AKA Jada Pinkett Smith & Pocket Honore

If Wicked Wisdom is a vanity project, you’d never know that from the demands the band makes of interviewers. The L.A.–based quintet has a concrete rule: all journalists must talk to at least two members of the group if they are interested in doing a story. And what a story Wicked Wisdom is. It’s not often that the spouse of one of Hollywood’s most successful players sets out to reinvent herself as a post-thrash metal queen.

The frontwoman in question is Will Smith’s better half, Jada Pinkett Smith, who has racked up more than a few big-screen credits with roles in The Matrix Reloaded and Scream 2. Her partners in sonic bombast are guitarists Pocket Honore and Cameron Graves, bassist Rio Lawrence, and ex–Fishbone drummer Philip “Fish” Fisher. What the band’s self-titled debut lacks in radio-friendly unit shifters, it makes up for in full-bore ferocity. Wicked Wisdom sounds like the work of suburban skids who’ve been force-fed a steady diet of Slipknot. That’s not an accident.

“When we first started this band, it was like a pop/R&B thing,” Honore says, on the line from a Fort Wayne, Indiana tour stop. “We weren’t really feeling it, so we made it into more of an alternative situation. Then Cameron and I started messing around. I’m a big Slipknot and Pantera fan; he’s a big Meshuggah and Slipknot fan. We tuned things down really low and realized we were coming up with stuff that was really heavy but still groovy.”

At that point, after a couple of years of playing low-profile shows on the L.A. club scene with revolving band members, Wicked Wisdom locked into a style it was happy with.

“I love Pantera, Sepultura, and Meshuggah,” reveals the gravel-voice Pinkett Smith, calling from her Fort Wayne hotel room. “I also grew up with Guns ’N Roses and Ozzy Osbourne, so I wanted to have hooks and melodies in what we do.”

For Pinkett Smith and Honore—Wicked Wisdom’s only surviving members from the pop days—agreeing on the direction the band would take was easy. Getting the headbangers of America to accept the group as legit was another matter. Thanks to such musical horror shows as Keanu Reeves’s Dogstar and Russell Crowe’s 30 Odd Foot of Grunts, the paying public has little time for slumming silver-screen millionaires. Wicked Wisdom discovered this last year when it signed on for a second-stage Ozzfest stint. For the first half-dozen shows, the metal faithful gave Wicked Wisdom a good idea of what Frankenstein’s monster felt like when he finally lurched out of the castle. And then something clicked.

“I’ve had this performer inside of me for a long time, but I had to work on letting it out,” Pinkett Smith says. “At the beginning of Ozzfest, I was holding back, and that was the problem. What I had to realize was ‘Jada, this is not the place to hold back.’ Once I started to let go, it all got better. As the shows went along, we’d have three mosh pits going at the same time.”

Wicked Wisdom gives you a good idea how the band won over all but the most close-minded of haters. Wasting no time earning its Parental Advisory sticker, the album starts off with “Yesterday Don’t Mean”, an expletive-packed locomotive loaded with far-beyond-driven guitars and rolling-thunder drums. Wicked Wisdom eases up occasionally, with? “Forgiven” detouring to the hard-rock area of Gothville and “Set Me Free” injecting a little experimental funk into the mix. Mostly, though, this is metal for those who still haven’t got over the death of Dimebag Darrell Abbott. Pinkett Smith—who doesn’t sing so much as bellow—doesn’t win a lot of points for vocal range, but she at least seems authentically pissed. If you thought Otep had issues, check out “Something Inside of Me”, a bludgeoning attack on child abuse that finds her barking “Something inside of me could break that mother?fucker’s neck”.

Cynics are going to charge that Pinkett Smith is playing a role, a skill for which her day job has more than prepared her. She, however, suggests that something more primal kicks in when she finds herself in front of a mike.

“I feel like I’m at home up there,” she argues. “The stage is like my freedom space where I let my soul pour out.”

If that comes across as Hollywood psychobabble, then consider this: if the advance buzz is to be believed, Juliette Lewis isn’t the only Tinseltown actor currently winning over audiences one sweaty show at a time. And although Wicked Wisdom might not quite live up to the band’s live reputation, Honore promises the band is just getting going. Wicked Wisdom, he says, has only begun to unleash its inner monster. By the time the group drops its next album, the guitarist pledges that no one will be doubting Pinkett Smith’s devotion to metal. Vancouverites, meanwhile, can judge for themselves when the band opens for Sevendust at the Commodore on Sunday (February 19).

“This record is actually kind of watered down,” Honore admits. “The next one we’re working on is way heavier, like somewhere between Crowbar and Meshuggah. If we’d gone that heavy with this record, no one would have even given it a chance. Now that it’s out there, next time we’re coming with a ball breaker.”

For more info on Jada Koren Pinkett Smith, visit www.thejadapages.com

When You've Done Everything Else

When You've Done Everything Else
Wicked Wisdom is clearly climbing the ladder of success

BY AMY ATKINS

Jada Koren Pinkett Smith

At 34 years old, Jada Pinkett Smith has seen her share of success. She's starred on both the small and the big screen (most notably the Matrix series), is happily married to someone equally successful (musician/actor Will Smith) and is the mother of three (two of her own and step-mother to one child she lovingly refers to as her "bonus son"). What more could there really be? Apparently, Pinkett Smith asked herself that same question and came up with an answer that must have been something like: "I'd like to front a metal band." Enter Wicked Wisdom.

Wicked Wisdom is Jada Koren (a.k.a. Jada Pinkett Smith) on lead vocals, Pocket Honore on lead guitar, Phillip "Fish" Fisher on drums, Rio Lawrence on bass and Cameron Graves on guitar and keys. I got the opportunity to speak with both Pinkett Smith and Graves about their freshman self-titled release and their current tour.

Through her PR company, Pinkett Smith called me from Cleveland. I really wanted to be cool, but have to admit I was starstruck. After a stammering introduction and a, "May I please call you Jada?" (sheesh), I asked her how the tour was going. Now, I have a gravelly voice, but Pinkett Smith sounded a little like Richard Nixon. She said the tour was going very well and Wicked Wisdom was getting great response from every audience. As to my Richard Nixon comment (yes, embarrassingly enough, I actually told her she sounded like Tricky Dick), she said she was giving her voice a much-needed rest. The music Wicked Wisdom produces is heavy and Pinkett Smith's fist-pumping vocals can be as hard and raw as the guitar riffs. She'll need the downtime while she can get it as Wicked Wisdom has a flurry of tour dates with Sevendust (and Nonpoint, Socialburn and One) ahead of them. As for the audience response, she said the interaction with people has been amazing--something she just doesn't get on TVs or movies. And the relationship with her band has also been something special. That's great, but how does the rest of the band deal with having a famous movie star as their lead singer? According to guitarist Cameron Graves, just fine.

Graves, 24, studied briefly at UCLA. He said he took myriad classes like psychology and astronomy. "I just wasn't feelin' it, though. All I wanted to do was play music." Graves had known Pocket Honore for a few years and said he, his brother and his father (musical artists in their own rights) all agreed that working with Honore would be amazing. "One day, a homegirl gave me his [Honore's] number and I just called him," Graves said, with wonder in his voice. If the chance to work with Honore is such a, well, honor, I wondered what it was like to work with someone as famous as Pinkett Smith.

"It's really nothing, to tell you straight. The reason me, Pocket and Jada get along so well is we don't treat Jada [differently]. We aren't starstruck. She's just [our] homegirl. We're all from the 'hood. In terms of everyday life, [we're all] just tryin' to buy gas, tryin' to make sure we got money for food, tryin' to chill out 'cause it's too stressful--just regular everyday things. Jada's the same regular person, so, it's really nothin'. We get up there, all five of us, just tryin' to kick ass."

Kickin' ass is just what they're doing. Pinkett Smith spent six weeks touring with Ozzfest, so she's no stranger to life on the road. However, she didn't want to become a stranger to her family so they come along. Family includes her spouse and kids, a goddaughter, nephews, friends and even, sometimes, her mother: "We have the band and crew bus, and then we have the Smith family bus. We couldn't all fit on one bus if we tried!" Smith said laughing. Her mother? Certainly Pinkett Smith's family is proud of her successes up to this point, but how does her mother feel about her music? The lyrics of some of Wicked Wisdom's songs are not exactly Hallmark card material, such as the hook in "Something Inside Of Me": "Something inside of me is poised/Something inside of me could throw/A 10,000-pound fist/Something inside of me is so incensed/Something inside of me could break/That muthafucka's neck." According to Pinkett Smith, her mother not only loves the CD, but it's her mother who helped give her the freedom to do the kind of music she does.

"My mother was one of the first people to introduce me to rock and roll," Pinkett Smith said. "She's a big Who fan. My uncle got me into heavy music: Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Queen, Ozzy Osbourne, Santana. I come from a very musically eclectic background."

From her background right into the foreground, Pinkett Smith credits Honore with much of the band's vision and direction. With only a few tour dates behind them and a CD release before them (Wicked Widsom hits shelves on February 21), there's no telling what direction the band will go. Whether Pinkett Smith's fame will be a burden or a blessing also remains to be seen, but based on the music and the way the members of Wicked Wisdom seem to feel about it and each other, it's a pretty safe bet that this project is just another in a long list of successes.



For more info on Jada Koren Pinkett Smith, visit www.thejadapages.com

Interview With Jada Pinkett Smith and Cameron Graves

Jada Koren Pinkett Smith

Wicked Wisdom - Jada Pinkett Smith and Cameron Graves
By:Patrick


Your debut album comes out on the 21st of this month...
Jada: Yeah!
....A lot of kids may not even have heard the band yet. So for those kids that read this what would you tell them they can expect from Wicked Wisdom?
Jada: Cam (Cameron Graves)..

Cam: Man, just a lot of craziness. You can expect a lot of craziness in the music and in the lyrics and some heartfelt spiritual stuff. Everybody in the band is pretty spiritual so we write from that place all the time. Yeah, a lot of that definitely. A lot of that mosh-pitting, a lot of hard riffs.

Jada: Where we are right now its like a collaboration of many different musical styles and I think you’d be kind of surprised with the musicianship and the musical idea’s that we have. This is different....really different.
Your album was set to be released on the 31st right? Why did it get pushed back further?
Jada: Yeah, it was definitely the 31st and our partners that we have at our label....we have our own label but then we’re partners with Suburban Noize. They just felt like it wouldn’t be enough time to promote it so we were like "Ok". It was set for January. They really wanted to have time to promote the album and set the album up and it totally made sense.

Cam: Yeah, it made perfect sense.
Now that ya mentioned Suburban Noize I’ll skip a few questions here..... When it came time to chose a label did it make you more comfortable to know you had hard working musicians as your label heads?
Jada: Kevin heard the stuff and said "Well, I wanna be down". What’s great about Suburban Noize is that they are pretty much in the same pocket as we are...as far as breaking boundaries of music. If you look at the Suburban Noize artists you have all kinds of bands that into different kinds of stuff and you have those people that are really pushing the edge so it was a great family for us to become apart of.


You’ve been on tour for awhile now... Has it been ruff touring with virtually nothing released yet minus the single from the record?
Jada: You know what? Interesting enough it hasn’t been bad, ya know what I mean? It hasn’t been bad at all. It has been really good. Going out on Ozzfest was hard, people didn’t know we were a band and that I had a band and all that kind of stuff. Now...the great thing about this particular genre is that people just come to hear music. I mean if you got material out it makes it easier because people will know your songs and stuff but what the crazy thing is is that people come to hear music so if you’ve got something to offer they’ll get into it. So that’s been a really good experience. After a couple songs into the set people are like "OK"... So its been really good.


Ten tracks made the album....how many were written for it?
Cam: Oh, that’s crazy.

Jada: *Laughs*

Cam: 13 actually.

Jada: Yeah, 13.

Cam: Two of those three we never really touched on, like never really learned. They’ll actually end up just going on the next album.

Jada: Right. With this one it was mainly Cameron [Cam] and Pocket basically write the music. They’re constantly writing and the music is constantly growing and expanding. The other tracks they had were so much heavier and they put this particular ten songs together because it works well for this experience and for the next experience we have a whole nother get down right there. *starts laughing*


To Jada: You write all the lyrics to the bands music right?
Jada: Yeah.
Which song holds the deepest meaning to you lyrically and what’s the meaning to that song to you?
Jada: I’d have to say my favorite one is "Bleed All Over Me" and "Bleed All Over Me" is about codependency and people that are attracted to pain *starts coughing* and people who like to face each other people’s pain. To me when I heard that track it was instant "Bleed All Over Me". I knew exactly what the content would be and I just wrote it.
To Cameron: I think everyone can relate their own special meaning to other peoples songs when they listen to them so which track off the new record holds the deepest meaning to you lyrically and what’s that track mean to you?
Cam: Oh man....Shoot. I’d have to say "Yesterday Don’t Mean Shit".....

Jada: Oh, of course Cam *laughing*

Cam: .....because I like that. It’s so real if you think about it.... "Yesterday Don’t Mean Shit Today". Just think about that statement man. You’ve always got these cats always trying to talk about... "I did this and I did that" and that try to act all stupid and most people turn into assholes because of what they did. So this is a straight-out statement saying *raises voice* "What are you doing today?"

Jada: *Laughs hysterically.* What are you doing today? You are funny with that.

Cam: *Laughs*

The albums first single "Something Inside of Me" is out now and the video is in rotation on Headbangers Ball and Google released it on their search engine page.... What’d do you two think of the video’s outcome?
Jada: Um, just the fact that Cam’s not in it makes it weird... He’ll be in the next one.

Cam: Yeah, man.

Jada: I love Paul Brown so I thought it was cool. I loved the concept for it.
Do you have any idea yet what the next single from the record may be?
Jada: We’re thinking about "Bleed All Over Me"
"Bleed All Over Me" huh? Do you have any idea when that will be released yet? Jada: In March.
Oh, that’s coming up quick.....
Jada: Yeah, we have pretty good video content for it too...I think.
Oh really? Tell me about it.
Jada: *Laughs* Noooooooo, I can’t, I can’t. The only reason I can’t is because we’re still working on it. We just kind of have a ruff concept on it. Its gonna be dope though.
Excellent, well I look forward to checking it out.



The cover art to the album is rather odd... what’s the concept behind the snake on the cover?
Jada: Do you want to answer that over there Cam? Your over there just nodding your head... *laughs*

Cam: Nah, nah, nah...well I mean yeah, there’s definitely a serpent aspect throughout the whole vibe imagery because of what we represent.

Jada: Yeah, what we represent as far as coming from the underworld to Earth. Just like coming from that underground where like people now will make a realization of Wicked Wisdom. Ya know the serpent is a symbol of renewal, a serpent sheds their skin and for us its symbolic for our music and our band. We’re in constant renewal.....

Cam: It doesn’t mean the devil.

Jada: *Laughs* Yeah, it doesn’t mean the devil at all. I mean that’s how it got turned into that whole freakin’ idea is when the monotheistic religions came in and took the power and they took all the goddess and made them evil. Even this *Jada throws up the horns* . This was a goddess symbol too. This meant Mother of the World and it still does today in India. You didn’t know that did you?
No, I actually didn’t. It’s true you do learn something new everyday.
Jada: Then along came the people and they turned it into devil horns. So when I put it up, that’s what it represents.

Cam: That’s real.....


After this tour ends what’s the band going to be up to for the rest of the year?
Jada: Another tour.
Another tour huh?
Jada: Hell yeah.
Back to Wisconsin?
Jada: Oh hell yeah, we always gotta come back to Wisconsin. Especially after the way you guys put it down tonight and the way you guys put it down on Ozzfest.... We’re definitely coming back to Wisconsin for sure. We got love here when we came through on Ozzfest and we got love here tonight. We have to return.


This one of those questions I always ask everyone... If you could punch one person in the face and get off clean who would it be and why them?
Jada: Goddamn, that’d be a lot of cats.

Cam: Now, you’ve got me trying to start some controversy.

Jada: *Laughs* Don’t start no controversy Cam but yeah there are so many people. I’ve had to work very hard on myself to move out of that particular mentality because that was definitely my mentality back in the day but damn, one person.... god. Shit.

Cam: Yeah, one person I could punch in the face....

Jada: And get away with it. So just one punch them once or could I beat the living shit out of them?
Well if they don’t go down after one I guess you could throw as many as ya need to in order to knock them out.
Jada: *Starts Laughing* For me its a laundry list of jokers man. A laundry list. What about you Cam?

Cam: Ya know, really the same thing here man.

Jada: *Laughs*

Cam: Its a list though. I dunno if I want to call out names because I could start some real...I could start some shit. I’ll just leave it at that. There is a very important person on that list though *laughs*.

Jada: Yeah, I’d say there is some really important people on mine too.


Alright, now thanks for doing this and I’m sorry for a few of these basic questions I’m sure you’ve answered many times.... Is there anything else you’d like to say?
Jada: It was very nice meeting you.
Thanks, it was very nice meeting you as well.
Jada: Thanks for waiting around for us too.
Oh, its totally cool. I’m a patient guy.
Jada: I know you are.
My phone was pretty much dead and wasn’t able to answer half of your calls but it worked in the end so thanks so much.
Jada: I’m glad.
I’ve seen Sevendust so many times so I don’t mind missing a few songs from their set.
Jada: I love them. I love being out here with them. Their one of my favorite bands. I never thought in a million years I’d be on tour with them. You have no idea, I’m in my own world right now. I get to go see Sevendust every night and I’ll never get sick of it either.


For more info on Jada Koren Pinkett Smith, visit www.thejadapages.com

Wicked Wisdom: New Album Tour

UltimateGuitar.com

Wicked Wisdom Band Members

The invitation to perform at Ozzfest 2005 came at a perfect time for the band Wicked Wisdom who had an amazing summer on the tour. Now, WW is set to release their self titled debut on 100% Womon Records & Suburban Noize Records on February 21, 2006.

More than two years ago Wicked Wisdom set out on a fearless journey to create music that defies boundaries and convention. Fronted by lead singer Jada Pinkett Smith, Wicked Wisdom gives birth to a sound unconventional and confined in any single genre. Seamlessly fusing the screaming guitars of heavy rock, driving drums of speed metal and unmistakably locked grooves of funk, with a melodic vocal style; that is fierce and vulnerable.



When Wicked Wisdom's Pocket Honore tuned down his Guitar and started writing new material with recent addition Cameron Graves A.K.A. Young Beige, the two realized they were creating a truly explosive sound. This new sound combined with Smith's searingly honest and revealing vocals proved the band was on the right path. The addition of Fishbone founding member Phillip "Fish" Fisher on the drums pushed the sound even deeper. Bass player Rio Lawrence's extreme stage presence can only be topped by his ability to fly through his booming bass riffs with an easy aggression. Rhythm Guitarist and keyboard player Cameron Graves plays the crucial role of maintaining this band's hard melody while accompanying Pocket's wild guitar style.

It was not long before the Wicked Wisdom live show garnered major buzz and caught the attention of influential ears, including Ozzfest tour organizer Sharon Osbourne. Mistress of Ceremonies Sharon Osbourne boldly states, "I went to see Wicked Wisdom play last April in a tiny (Los Angeles) club at midnight. Let me tell you, I was blown away. When you see and hear Jada with her band it's apparent that she has nothing but love and respect for this genre of music. I totally respect that the band wants to pay their dues playing the second stage on Ozzfest."

Wicked Wisdom is: Jada Pinkett Smith (vocals), Pocket Honore (lead guitar), Phillip "Fish" Fisher (drums), Rio Lawrence (bass guitar), Cameron Graves (rhythm guitar & keys).

Tour dates are as follows:

02/14 - Gothic Theatre - Denver, CO
02/16 - Big Easy - Boise, ID
02/17 - Big Easy Concert House - Spokane, WA
02/18 - The Premier - Seattle, WA
02/19 - Commodore Ballroom - Vancouver, BC
02/21 - Roseland Theater - Portland, OR
02/24 - House of Blues - Las Vegas, NV
02/25 - House of Blues - San Diego, CA
02/28 - House of Blues - Anaheim, CA
03/02 - Marquee Theatre - Tempe, AZ
03/03 - Sunshine Theatre - Albuquerque, NM

For more info on Jada Koren Pinkett Smith, visit www.thejadapages.com

Wicked Wisdom

Wicked wisdom


By NICK ROGERS
A&E EDITOR
Published Thursday, February 09, 2006

Jada Koren, AKA Jada Pinkett Smith

Jada Pinkett Smith has robbed banks, fought for futuristic freedom and sent an apocalypse-minded demon back to hell onscreen.

She's earned her rep as "the tough chick in Hollywood."
Still, as Pinkett Smith puts it, it's a "whole 'nother get-down" for this 5-foot-nothing front woman to unleash a torrent of p.o.'d guttural growls with hard-core metal band Wicked Wisdom.

"MTV sprouted from my generation, and I would look at Metallica and Guns 'n' Roses, see Axl out there and say, 'Why don't we have any chicks that do that?'" says Pinkett Smith, who uses the musical moniker Jada Koren (her middle name) and goes on to name-check Meshuggah and Phil Anselmo of Pantera.

A black woman fronting a metal band isn't a novelty; the shaved-bald Skin led the now-defunct Skunk Anansie back in the 1990s.

Pinkett Smith is just the only one who forged a formidable movie career first, married superstar actor-rapper Will Smith and is associated more with red carpets than black metal. Still, there's much to back up her insistence that this is no well-funded, whimsical holiday from Hollywood.

Wicked Wisdom is willing to hold the No. 4 spot on a five-band bill for this Sevendust tour and play smaller cities such as Springfield. This isn't, of course, to say star power hasn't shown up on the road; Sevendust singer Lajon Witherspoon has been amused by crowds who crane their necks during his band's set when Will Smith has followed his wife's tour to several stops.

But there's nothing Big Willie Style about Wicked Wisdom's music - the Pantera-esque blast of double bass drum and guitar of "Something Inside of Me" and, on "Cruel Intentions," Pinkett Smith snarling like the creature she vanquished.

"About four years ago, I just decided, 'Before I leave this planet, I have to have an opportunity to do this,'" says Pinkett Smith, who pens Wicked Wisdom's lyrics. "I planned on putting the band together, playing around (California). I never knew it would grow into what it grew into."

Pocket Honore, lead guitarist and musical director for Wicked Wisdom, says Pinkett Smith was very "excited, yet nervous" when a mutual friend brought them together. Her enthusiasm encouraged the longtime R&B/hip-hop session man to pass on touring gigs of that genre.

Rio & Pocket


"I just kind of got burned out on doing the R&B/hip-hop stuff," says Honore, who has played with Patti LaBelle, Ice Cube and Eric Benet. "(Jada) said she wanted to do rock, and I said, 'Cool.'"

Aggressive sound came gradually to Wicked Wisdom, which dallied with harder-edged pop, soul and alternative styles before guitarist Cameron Graves came on board in 2004 and encouraged the band to tune down the instruments and give the really heavy stuff a shot.

Cameron Graves, AKA Wirm


Wicked Wisdom (which also includes original Fishbone drummer Phillip "Fish" Fisher) was as shocked as the Ozzy faithful when the band was asked to join 2005's Ozzfest on the second stage.

Phillip Fisher, AKA Fish


Pinkett Smith says it was only natural that metal fans had difficulty reconciling her being there, and each night, Wicked Wisdom only had 20 minutes to prove itself. There were plenty of preconceived notions and tense taunts - Honore says a New Jersey show was particularly rough, as bird-flipping fans in the front row really riled up Pinkett Smith.

"After that, we said, 'It's time to move onstage. We can't just stand here,'" Honore says. "The one that turned it around was in Chicago. It was our first headlining show in the rotation, and we played that first song and it just went off. That was the longest day we signed autographs on the tour."

Since then, Wicked Wisdom has been a featured musical guest on "The Late Show with David Letterman," of which Pinkett Smith says, "David doesn't get too excited about much of anything. When he was smiling, it was, like, 'Wow, we must have really did something tonight.'"

And on Feb. 21, the band's 10-song, self-titled debut CD hits stores. But Pinkett Smith already is looking forward to scaring off the sophomore slump with an even harsher sound.

"Even this particular album is just a launching pad," Pinkett Smith says. "We want to get even heavier than what we've done now."


Nick Rogers can be reached at 747-9587 or nick.rogers@sj-r.com. Staff writer Daniel Pike contributed to this story.

For more info on Jada Koren Pinkett Smith, visit www.thejadapages.com

Jada Pinkett Smith Gets Hard-Core

Jada Koren, AKA Jada Pinkett Smith

Jada Pinkett Smith gets hard-core

Actress brings metal band to Bogart's

BY GIL KAUFMAN | ENQUIRER CONTRIBUTOR

As Niobe in the "Matrix" trilogy, Jada Pinkett Smith tapped into her serious side. But as frontwoman for the hard-core metal band Wicked Wisdom, the pint-sized actress unleashes her inner demons in a way that would make Neo run for cover. The group has been earning its stripes on the road for the past two years: first as an opening act for Britney Spears in Europe in 2004, when it was more of a pop-R&B act , and last summer on the metal-centric Ozzfest.

The band's self-titled debut is due out Feb. 21 and it will play Bogart's Saturday night, opening for Sevendust.

We talked to Pinkett Smith about her new gig from a tour stop in New Haven, Conn.:



Question: What made you decide to try your hand at music?

Answer: "It was always something I wanted to do. Four years ago I decided it's now or never. I knew I wanted to do something with a rock feel, but I just had to figure out my own feel."

Q: How'd you discover that menacing voice? It's not what people would expect.

A: "I always knew it was there, I just needed time to find it. I like that powerful sound."

Q: What kind of music did you listen to as a kid?

A: "Metallica, lots of Guns 'N' Roses. ... The house I grew up in was not segregated like (MTV) with music. My mother was a big Who fan, but she was also into Prince and Chaka Khan. My uncle introduced me to Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd. My grandparents were into jazz."

Q: How is this different from your acting career?

A: "I love that exchange with the audience. There's this connection you have right there in the moment. I'm right there with them and they're right there with me, versus the exchange with an audience of an image they're watching of me on the screen."

Q: What do your kids and (husband) Will (Smith) think?

A: "My daughter is a huge metal fan! She has a better growl than I do and she's only 5. She said, 'You know I'll have a better band than you do' the other day when I dropped her off at school. As far as my music is concerned, Will stays out of it. It's my baby."

E-mail gilkco@aol.com

For more info on Jada Koren Pinkett Smith, visit www.thejadapages.com

Jada Pinkett Smith Lives Out Her Axl Rose Dreams

Wicked Wisdom Band

From MTV.com News

If you ever picture it at all, the music you might expect to hear pumping from the stereo at Will Smith's house is probably some old-school hip-hop: Spoonie Gee, classic KRS-One, a bit of Grandmaster Flash. But if wife Jada Pinkett Smith is home, it's more likely to be an ear-bleeding mix of metal from Mastodon, A Dozen Furies, Otep and Bury Your Dead.

"I listened to all kinds of metal as a kid," said Pinkett Smith, who has spent the past few years honing her hard-rock chops as frontwoman of Wicked Wisdom, a band that's put in such serious road time lately that the actress has been all but invisible on the big screen since its formation four years ago. "Metallica, Guns N' Roses. I would always look at Axl Rose and say, 'Why aren't there any chicks out there doing this now?' I always wanted an opportunity to get out there and rock out."

So in 2002 Pinkett Smith decided it was now or never. She called a friend in the music biz and asked him to help her get a band together and shortly after, she met the Zakk Wylde to her Ozzy, guitarist Pocket Honore. At first, the group tried out a "rock/soul fusion thing" that didn't quite feel right, hitting the road in 2004 opening for the European leg of Britney Spears' Onyx Hotel tour.

"It was on that tour that we realized we wanted a more metal thing and we started writing more on that tip," she said. "It just started getting heavier and heavier, and that's when it clicked for us." Around that time, Honore brought on keyboardist/rhythm guitarist Cameron Graves and former Fishbone drummer Phillip "Fish" Fisher. While Pinkett Smith was finding her inner demon as the band worked out grinders like "You Can't Handle This" in the studio, the real trial by fire came last summer when the untested group hit the Ozzfest stage.

Honore, who cut his chops working on R&B and hip-hop tracks with everyone from Erykah Badu to Patti LaBelle, gave up his lucrative production/session playing career to sign on with Pinkett Smith. He said the actress was understandably nervous when they first started playing together, but by the time they hit Ozzfest, her confidence was apparent. "At first it was too cute and we all agreed it had to be more brutal," he said. "Cameron is big into Meshuggah and I love Slipknot, so we played her some tracks along those lines and she said, 'Yeah, right there!' "

Four lineups and two albums' worth of material later, the band jelled, and Honore was ready for anything that Ozzfest crowds could dish out. "I done been in barroom brawls before," he said, citing some early dates that were a bit rocky. "But once word got out that we weren't a joke, people started coming out and by the sixth or seventh gig we were on fire."

Pinkett Smith, who listened to everything from Duran Duran to Led Zeppelin, John Coltrane, Prince, Pink Floyd and Mozart as a kid, described the feeling of rocking onstage as being wholly different from kicking ass as Niobe in "The Matrix" sequels.

"Onstage, I'm giving them Jada, versus me giving them a character," she said. "And some people like Jada and some don't, and that's part of it. It really grounds you and empowers you when you can get onstage and know you had a good show someplace where no one's ever heard of you. And the audience might not be that enthusiastic, but you rocked out and had a good-ass time. The difference is when you do a crappy movie in Hollywood, everyone says 'great job.' On Ozzfest, if you're crappy they get you off the stage and you know where you stand. Nobody's out there clapping because they want to protect your feelings."

Though songs like "Don't Hate Me" do have Pinkett Smith showing off her Korn-inspired rap skills, hubby Will has made a conscious effort to let Wicked Wisdom stay Jada's thing. Besides, she knows she doesn't flow well. "I asked him about my little rap thing on that song and he was like, 'You know, it's cool.' "

Opinion on Wisdom's upcoming self-titled debut album (out February 21) is split in the Smith household. While son Jaden likes mommy's songs, he's more of a hip-hop head and is always asking for Will's music. Five-year-old daughter Willow, however, is a huge metal fan. "She has as better growl than I do," Pinkett Smith said. "I dropped her off at school the other day and she said, 'You know I'll have a better band than you do.' " You've been warned. Look for Bloody Eye on Ozzfest 2018.

Except for a pair of projects she's considering for this summer, Pinkett Smith has put her acting on hold to concentrate on Wicked Wisdom. They are currently on the road opening for Sevendust and have more dates planned for late summer and fall. "This is passion," she said, pointing to some of the dark themes she wrote about on such songs as "Bleed All Over Me" (codependency) and "Something Inside of Me" (pedophilia) as examples of the release the band affords her. "I feel really blessed and grateful to have this opportunity."

Wicked Wisdom track listing, according to Pinkett Smith:


"Yesterday Don't Mean"
"Something Inside of Me"
"One"
"Bleed All Over Me"
"Cruel Intentions"
"You Can't Handle"
"Forgiven"
"Set Me Free"
"Don't Hate Me"
"Reckoning"
Wicked Wisdom tour dates, according to the band's publicist:

2/9 - Springfield, IL @ The Warehouse
2/11 - Appleton, WI @ The Checkered Flag
2/12 - Milwaukee, WI @ The Rave
2/14 - Englewood, CO @ Gothic Theatre
2/16 - Boise, ID @ Big Easy
2/17 - Spokane, WA @ Big Easy
2/21 - Portland, OR @ Roseland Theater
2/25 - San Diego, CA @ House of Blues
2/26 - West Hollywood, CA @ House of Blues
2/28 - Anaheim, CA @ House of Blues
3/2 - Tempe, AZ @ Marquee Theatre
3/3 - Las Vegas @ House of Blues

— Gil Kaufman

For more info on Jada Koren Pinkett Smith, visit www.thejadapages.com