Smith Gets Wicked In Heavy Rock Band

Wicked Wisdom Band

Smith gets Wicked in heavy rock band

TOM CONWAY
Tribune Correspondent

The uninitiated Sevendust fan going to see their favorite band at Club Fever on Friday night may experience a "Hey, the singer looks like ... no, it couldn't be" moment when opening band Wicked Wisdom performs.

It is, however, true: Actress Jada Pinkett Smith fronts Wicked Wisdom.

Smith, more famous for her roles in "Collateral," "Ali" and the last two "Matrix" movies, said in a recent telephone interview that she enjoys the reaction she gets from people who are not aware that she is the lead singer for a heavy rock band.

"The cool thing about it is that not everybody knows," she said. "I just don't think people are used to seeing me like that, and they would just never expect me to be there."

Rather than do the vanity pop projects that most actors do when they attempt to enter the music business, Smith knew that she wanted to play the kind of music that she loved.

"I've always been a lover of heavy music," she said. "Always. I grew up with it, and it's something that I have always wanted the opportunity to do. I have always loved the expression and freedom of it."

About four years ago, Smith decided that she wanted to form a band and asked a friend, Pocket Honore, to help. He became the music director and lead guitarist for Wicked Wisdom.

"He and I were pretty much on the same page where we wanted to take this band musically," Smith said. "Then, we hooked up with a young cat named Cameron ('Young Beige' Graves), who plays guitar and keys, and he helped us solidify the sound that we looked for. Then we got Fish, who brought just a whole new dynamic to the band." Rio Lawrence plays bass for the band.

Phillip "Fish" Fisher, the founding drummer for the seminal ska-punk-funk-rock group Fishbone, compared his time with Fishbone to this current project.

"I have had a beautiful life in music to have played so much good underground music, and to help it to rise to the top," he said. "It is nice to start with a new band and do that journey again."

Fish said "it's all good" that the focus of the band is on Smith because of her celebrity.

"I don't feel like it is overshadowing the band," he said. "Of course, she's a big celebrity, so it makes a difference. But, whatever pre-conceived notions people have to her already-existing image are being shattered, and something else is being introduced by people hearing the music, and especially by them seeing it live."

Smith said that she is aware that the novelty of her singing in a hard rock band may bring people to the shows, but she will need to back it up with something substantial for it to last.

"People really come out to have a good time and hear good music," she said. "If you can show them a good time, and give them good music, then that is all they care about. To be honest with you, the real deal is that most guys think that girls can't rock and roll, and, on top of that, a black chick. So once I get up there and do my thing, it rarely is an issue. You've just got to show and prove."

"Bleed All Over Me," the first single off of the band's self-titled debut CD, due out Feb. 21, shows a side of Smith that is not apparent from her movies or talk show appearances.

"It's just another aspect of myself that is not always so PC (politically correct)," Smith said. "It is just that other side of myself. The reason why I really love this music is just basically that I can say what I want, do what I want, and it doesn't matter."

Will Smith, Jada's husband, is a hip hop artist -- and the star of such movies as "The Men in Black," "Independence Day" and "I Robot" -- who is routinely criticized for not being hard or "gangsta" enough in his music.

"He gets criticism for being too clean and I'm getting criticized for wanting to be a little ugly," Smith said. "He loves it. He came out on our sets with me for most of our tour, and it really opened his eyes to a lot of things, a lot of new musical ideas. It really sparked him creatively."

Does that mean we will hear less "getting jiggy with it" and more headbanging on the next Will Smith record?

"Yeah, I think you will," Smith said. "It's not what I'm doing, but it definitely has an influence on some of his musical ideas. Just using more loud instruments, and it's going to be an interesting project for him."

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

Proving Her Metal

Queen Jada

Proving her metal

By SONIA MURRAY

Cox News Service

Friday, January 27, 2006

ATLANTA — Jada Pinkett Smith: The TV star ("A Different World") turned movie-theater draw ("The Matrix" sequels, "Collateral," "Set It Off") turned almost scary, throaty, horrorcore frontwoman for five-member metal band Wicked Wisdom.

You read that right — metal.

And yet on her warm, huge bus scented with Mainstays candles — Fresh Petals, to be exact — the diminutive Pinkett Smith hardly seems like one of the head-thrashing opening acts on Atlanta band Sevendust's tour; singing songs like "Yesterday Don't Mean [Expletive] Today" and "Bleed All Over Me." Except for the all-black ensemble. And the sweat pants. Oh — and then there's the Mastodon T-shirt (a nod to the Atlanta band she toured with during Ozzfest.)

Before she joined drummer Phillip "Fish" Fisher (formerly of the band Fishbone), lead guitarist Pocket Honore, bass guitarist Rio Lawrence and rhythm guitarist/keyboardist Cameron Graves on stage at the Tabernacle, Pinkett Smith and her bandmates shared their thoughts on:

Why there are so few metal bands with women, blacks — much less black women — leading: "There are so many different reasons," said Pinkett Smith, whose band's debut CD hits stores Feb. 21. "But what the real deal is is that there are a lot of black people that listen to all types of stuff. It's just about us putting forth the effort to expand those boundaries that have been created around us. We just have to broaden that image. You'd be surprised how many black folks are hip to metal. "Even here," continues Fisher. "As far as my history and coming to this place, I remember a band called Follow for Now. They carried metal. And that was in the '80s. I know about Whild Peach ... If you're always looking to the mainstream to expose you to everything, then that's what you're going to find. But there are always people of color playing just about every genre of music.

Phillip "Fish" Fisher


What Wicked Wisdom aspires to be: "Just putting out some real good music and opening up some ears," said Honore. "That's the whole thing: Pushing music to the limit again. Taking chances. Music is art. It's sonic art. And if you look at music, every song is like a white canvas. And you get a fresh set of colors each time. So you should try to create something fresh every time. Try different colors. Different textures. Like Slipknot, God Forbid and John Scofield."

"Kanye West is doing a little something," Pinkett Smith continued. "Meshell Ndegéocello — she pushes. And Ani DiFranco always pushes. She will flip it [on] every CD."

What Wicked Wisdom means: "Ahhhh, Wicked Wisdom," said Pinkett Smith. "OK. Wicked: West Indian term. Bad meaning good. Wisdom meaning woman. So 'one bad woman' is one version of it. Then Wicked Wisdom [also means], no matter your economic background, color, education, what-have-you, we all are pawns in the game of Wicked Wisdom ... Just the idea of the certain ways that things are set up, ways that we're educated, ways that we're taught to perceive things in the world, to me, is part of the Wicked Wisdom idea. And how we as individuals have to evolve and break those boundaries that are created for us so that we can become individual thinkers. So that we can be free thinkers. So I wanted the band to be called Wicked Wisdom in order to keep that in the consciousness of the audience."

Who they figured Pinkett Smith was before they met her: "I've always thought that she was very talented and that she had a lot of integrity in everything that she does in terms of what I saw on the screen," said Fisher. "Me being the last member to join the band, I had an opportunity to watch them play over the years so I've watched them grow; and at a particular point, I saw that she was dead serious about doing this. And she was performing with a particular kind of professional intensity that made me want to be a part of it ... Where she is now isn't where she started." "I remember seeing her on some TV show and I just knew at some point I would have some kind of connection to her," said Lawrence. "It just seemed like a destined thing."

Jada Whooping On Pocket Honore


"Did I have an impression of her before I started [in this band]?' Honore began. "No. Then when I first met her she like put me in the headlock. [Laughs] I thought she was very sweet. Showed big heart. Big intent. A little scared."

"A lot of scared," interjected Pinkett Smith.

"She had more heart than anybody I know," Honore added. "I didn't really have an impression of Jada beforehand," said Graves. "I just always think of Jada as the girl from [the movie] 'Inkwell.'"

"With the big eyebrows!" added Pinkett Smith.


Sonia Murray writes for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

For Jada, It Was Time To Rock

Queen Jada

"It's always been like a closet dream."
For Jada, it was time to rock

By David Hiltbrand

Inquirer Staff Writer

Jada Pinkett Smith comes by her love of hard-rock music honestly. She's been listening to headbangers like Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin since she was a girl growing up in Baltimore.

For years, while she was developing her acting career (Woo, The Matrix sequels) and pursuing wedded bliss with the pride of Philly, Will Smith, she also harbored a passionate desire.

"I wanted to see a chick get down like Axl Rose," Pinkett Smith says on the phone.

Finally, in 2003, she decided it was time to turn up the amplifiers and rock the house. "I know," she says of the shocked reaction she gets when people hear of her career detour. "It is so out of the box. But it's always been like a closet dream. One day I realized I'd better do it. It was now or never."

Thus was born the metal band Wicked Wisdom, which has been winning over fans one gig at a time. "You have people that are skeptical," the singer says. "They come up and say, 'I came here to hate on you guys and throw [stuff], but I can't. You guys are really good.' "

Sharon Osbourne caught a Wicked Wisdom show at the Viper Room in West Hollywood and promptly offered the band a slot on last summer's OzzFest tour.

"The OzzFest crowd was off the chain," Pinkett Smith says. "I love their passion and their enthusiasm and their love for live music. Those kids hold it down."

The only bad experience they had was in Camden, where Pinkett Smith got into it with a few members of the crowd who were mocking her with Nazi salutes.

"That was one of our first shows on OzzFest and we were really still getting our bearings," Pinkett Smith says. "I saw some things in the audience that [ticked] me off. It turned into a really bad situation."

No hard feelings. She's looking forward to returning to this area. "We've been performing quite a bit since then," she says. "It's a totally different get-down."

The band is promoting its first CD, a self-titled disc that is due out Feb. 21. "We've been working at this for a while, at getting that sound together," she says. "We all love heavy music; we all love melody. This album is like a launching pad. We're already working on the next one. It will be even groovier and heavier."

She's expecting some spousal support at Saturday's show at the Electric Factory. "I think you might see Will there," she says slyly, "cause it's his hometown and he always checks out the tour."

But he won't be riding with the band to the next stop on its tour. "My kids love the tour bus. My husband hates it," Pinkett Smith says. It reminds him of his days as a teenage rapper. " 'I don't want to do this anymore! I did this for 10 years.' "

Yet it's a journey that his wife is just starting.

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

JADA'S BAND, WICKED WISDOM WILL PERFORM ON DAVID LETTERMAN WEDNESDAY NIGHT, January, 25th!

David Letterman

January 25
Mischa Barton (The OC)
Jeff Altman
Wicked Wisdom

www.cbs.com/latenight/lateshow/


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

Wicked Widom Lets Her 'Get Down And Dirty'

Jada Pinkett Smith in metal band

Wicked Wisdom lets her 'get down and dirty'

By STEVE TILLEY - Toronto Sun

It's not easy being a movie star who also plays in a rock band. Just ask Keanu Reeves.

So Jada Pinkett Smith did exactly that, when she decided to moonlight from acting and try the whole raunchy rock goddess thang, fronting a band called Wicked Wisdom.

Jada Koren, (Jada Pinkett Smith)

"Keanu really helped me get an understanding of what I was doing, and what was going on," the actress turned metal queen said of her Matrix movies co-star, who plays bass in the not exactly acclaimed rock act Dogstar.

Raunchy? Metal? Yes, we're talking about that Jada Pinkett Smith. Married to some dude named Will, starred in Collateral and Ali and The Nutty Professor, looks like she'd weigh about 100 pounds soaking wet.

But when the guitar-and-drum-heavy band takes the stage at the Phoenix on Monday, opening for Atlanta groove-metal meisters Sevendust, the 5-foot-nothing Pinkett Smith will growl about darkness and death and breaking some mother-you-know-what-er's neck. Um, is this the same nice lady who voiced Gloria the hippo in Madagascar?

"It gives me an opportunity to express that other side of myself," Pinkett Smith said in a phone interview from Florida, where the band was playing a string of small club dates this week.

"I can give you the cute red-carpet flair, but there's also another side of me that likes to get down and dirty. That's the side I prefer, actually."

Many a Hollywood star has dabbled in the music game, but for every J.Lo there's a Russell Crowe, a Bruce Willis or a -- no offence to your pal, Jada -- Keanu Reeves.

"He was the first person to tell me, 'Jada, this is going to be rough. People already see you one way, and it's going to be very difficult to break that. Just know now you're going to be up for a lot of criticism.' "

Here's the thing, though. Her band Wicked Wisdom isn't bad, not bad at all. Pinkett Smith has the pipes and the presence, and the talented group is anchored by drummer and original Fishbone founding member Philip "Fish" Fisher.

Philip "Fish" Fisher

"It's not a hobby for her, I'm not a hobby musician," Fisher said. "It's not about the Hollywood actress at all. What would a Hollywood actress be doing playing such underground music?"

Good question, actually. Wicked Wisdom cycled through sounds and lineups for nearly four years before arriving at the raw but melodious flavour of metal they're playing today. Veterans of last summer's Ozzfest tour (after Sharon Osbourne extended a personal invitation to perform), they're poised to release their first CD next month.

But where does Will Smith figure in this equation? According to some gossip mags, the Fresh Prince is scaling back on movie work so his princess can be a rock star.

Or not. "He's not scaling back jack!" Pinkett Smith said. "There are all these little tabloids all over the place talking about how Will Smith is putting his career on hold so his wife can pursue her music career."

Pinkett Smith says her husband is just taking a short break while getting a couple of other projects off the ground. But he also makes time to visit his wife while she's on tour, in part to check out the band, and in part to make sure nobody's checking her out. "If you leave your wife on the road for too long -- well, hey!" she said. "He keeps an eye on me and makes sure I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing."

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

Two Sides Of Jada

Jada Koren

Two sides of Jada
Glamorous red carpet actress meets heavy metal rocker
By David Friedman
NEWS-TIMES MUSIC WRITER

"While I was on Ozzfest, people were like, 'I'll never look at you on the red carpet the same way again.' And I said, 'Good.'Ÿ"

— Jada Pinkett Smith

Wicked Wisdom vocalist


For many, up until last summer, the name Jada Pinkett Smith was tied entirely to her film roles in "The Matrix Reloaded," "Collateral," "Ali," "Scream 2" and "The Nutty Professor," to name a few.

Older fans may have seen her in her 1993 film debut, "Menace II Society," or on the '90s TV series "A Different World." Offscreen, they saw her photos in magazines as she walked the red carpet, often with her husband, rapper-actor Will Smith.

So upon learning that Pinkett Smith was moonlighting as a singer and songwriter, fans may have figured she'd be glammed out onstage, singing pop-infused R&B like Beyonce.

That isn't the case.

Instead, Pinkett Smith and her band, Wicked Wisdom, play hard rock/heavy metal. The group, which played Ozzfest last summer, is hitting the road opening for Sevendust on a tour that stops Jan. 26 at Toad's Place in New Haven.

Jada and Cameron Graves

The band's self-titled debut, due out Feb. 21 on 100% Womon/Suburban Noize, includes the song "Set Me Free," which is about misogyny in music; and "You Can't Handle This," which appears on the Ozzfest DVD.

The lead single, "Something Inside Of Me," was inspired by the 2002 kidnapping and murder of 5-year-old Samantha Runyon in Stanton, Calif.

"She was found in the woods, just completely ravaged and left there like some kind of rag doll," Pinkett Smith recalled in a Jan. 6 interview from her Los Angeles home. "This was somebody's child. I remember being so broken up about it. I remember having to go to an event that day and being on the red carpet. I had to keep my composure. That wasn't a place that I was supposed to talk about that. It really upset me that we're in a society now that was so desensitized from such traumatic events. We are supposed to go on with our day and act like nothing happened.

"When I heard the track, her face came into my mind," she added. "That rage and that anger and all that hurt came about. I came up with the title 'Something Inside Of Me' — just all of those feelings that were inside of me that I couldn't talk about that day, or I wouldn't talk about. That track gave me a place to express it. This music and the stage gives me a place to talk about all of the things I want to talk about that might not be so P.C. on the red carpet, which is why I love doing this."



Born Sept. 18, 1971, Pinkett Smith grew up in Baltimore, Md. Father Robert Pinkett Jr. worked as a contractor; mother Adrienne Banfield was a nurse. But the couple got divorced and Jada's life was far from easy.

Pinkett Smith said her father was addicted to crack. Her mother, now 15 years clean, was a heroin addict. Growing up with such obstacles kept Pinkett Smith grounded and in touch with the challenges common people face each day.

"My drive and my motivation in life is to always help people to overcome obstacles," said Pinkett Smith, whose grandmother was a social worker. "That's what connects us as human beings and it's why we live in communities and not by ourselves — because we need one another for survival.

"Any time you disconnect yourself from the community, you die, period," she added. "You just die, whether it's spiritually or whatever. You have to stay connected to that substance that makes us who we are and that connects all of us, no matter what your color, economic background, neighborhood you live in — it doesn't matter. We're all made of the same substance."

After attending Baltimore School for the Arts for high school, Pinkett Smith attended college at North Carolina School for the Arts for a year before moving to L.A. to pursue acting. To date, her favorite role is playing one of four bank robbers with Queen Latifah, Vivica A. Fox and Kimberly Elise in the 1996 crime thriller "Set It Off."

In terms of songwriting influences, Pinkett Smith, who married Will Smith in 1997, looks up to Ani DiFranco, Sting and Seal.

Pocket Honore

She started Wicked Wisdom in 2002 with lead guitarist Pocket Honore. After recording soul-rock songs, the pair decided to go for a harder sound. The band's lineup evolved to include bassist Rio Lawrence, rhythm guitarist-keyboardist Cameron Graves and drummer Phillip "Fish" Fisher.

A founding member of Fishbone — which fused funk, ska, reggae, punk and metal — Fisher, 38, played in that band from 1979-98. He performed on the Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Mother's Milk" LP in '89 and played on Fishbone's tours with Biohazard, Soundgarden and Stone Temple Pilots.

Mr. Fisher


Fisher, a fan of newer metal bands that include Meshuggah, Killswitch Engage and Black Dahlia Murder, was touring with Les Claypool's Frog Brigade when Wicked Wisdom got started. He knew Pinkett Smith and her band mates, though, and attended their early shows.

"At a certain point, it clicked to me that she was real serious about doing something," Fisher said in a Jan. 6 interview from his L.A. home. "I decided I would approach them about being a part of it. I understood they wanted to be a lot harder than they were at the time and I was down for that. She impressed me and that's why I'm part of this project.

"(Rio and I), we've played together on other projects, but this one is different for the genre of music," said Fisher, who is no longer married and has two daughters, ages 4 and 3. "A lot of parts are played extremely tight. We're trying to bring that precision and also a feel that we don't think has really existed in the genre of music that we're pursuing."

Rio

While an early version of Wicked Wisdom opened for Britney Spears on her "Onyx Hotel" tour, the new lineup performed on 2005's Ozzfest.

Though she wears makeup onscreen and at film premieres, Pinkett Smith doesn't enhance her look for concerts.

"I take my hair out of braids and I put on some clean clothes and I go onstage — and that's it," said Pinkett Smith, who has a stepson, Trey, 13, a son, Jaden, 7, and a daughter, Willow, 5. "It's just raw Jada. I hate when I have to (dress up) for the red carpet and I love having the freedom with this music to just be me, man. These kids, they don't care about what I have on. All they care about is, 'What are you coming with tonight?' That's it. They don't care about all that (other stuff). As long as I'm coming with something that they want to hear and I'm up on that stage making it happen for them, that's all that matters."


The show begins at 6:30 p.m., with Nonpoint and One also on the bill. The venue is at 300 York St. Tickets are $25. Call etix.com at (919) 782-5010.

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

Chat LIVE With Jada In Late January 2006!

Chat LIVE with Jada in late January!
Keep checking back for updates!Submit relationship questions now
for Jada to answer throughout January.

Jada Pinkett Smith has proven herself to be one of today's most versatile and gifted young actresses. Off screen Jada has been hard at work adding two more titles to her growing list of career endeavors, as a producer & singer. Jada and her husband Will Smith are the creators and executive producers of All of Us, UPN's hit television show, which is in its second season. Musically Jada is on the rise as the lead singer of the R&B and rock fusion band "Wicked Wisdom."

Jada is also an investor and spokesmodel for beauty company Carol's Daughter. She and Will are proud parents and plan to celebrate their 9th wedding anniversary in December 2005,
establishing Jada as a voice of knowledge and credibility on the topic of relationships. Her views on relationships are refreshing and honest, and she will be sharing them here with you.

For the next several weeks, you will have the opportunity to ASK JADA. Ask her anything about love and relationships and she will give you her candid, honest answers. Simply submit your questions here and check back for Jada's answers weekly.

• Relationship expectations and how to manage them realistically.
• How to keep a relationship fresh.
• How to rejuvenate your spirit to be able to continue to give to someone else.
• How do you know when it's right?
• How do you know when it's time to let go?
• How to make a new relationship work.
• How to keep friends from interfering in your relationship.
• How to manage schedules and make time for each other.
• Moving on after a breakup/being open to finding new love.
• When is it safe to let your guard down and be real in a relationship?

Come back to chat with Jada live Monday, 1/30 here on Blackplanet.com compliments of Carol's Daughter!

Tell a friend and check weekly for relationship questions answered by Jada.

Tommy

Jada Pinkett Smith (stage name: Jada Koren) and her band, Wicked Wisdom, will perform with Socialburn, Nonpoint, ONE and Sevendust @ The Moon on Thur.

www.tallahassee.com.

JadaPinkett Smith (stage name: Jada Koren) and her band, Wicked Wisdom, will perform with Socialburn, Nonpoint, ONE and Sevendust at The Moon on Thursday.

Take a good look at the woman pictured above. She seems very familiar, yes? You might know her from one of her many movie personae - Niobe in the "Matrix" movies, or Professor Carla Purty in "The Nutty Professor," perhaps. She's also half of one of the most talented and photogenic couples in show business - but don't call her Mrs. Will Smith, or even Jada Pinkett Smith. When she's on the road with her aggressive, progressive metal band Wicked Wisdom, the lady goes by the monicker Jada Koren. With bandmates Rio (bass), Cameron "Young Beige" Graves (guitar), Pocket Honore (guitar) and Phillip "Fish" Fisher (drums), the full-throated singer electrified audiences during last summer's Ozzfest tour with a sound that blends speed metal, pop and funk elements into a dizzying, ear-tingling fusion. Wicked Wisdom helps whip fans into a frenzy for next week's show featuring Blountstown homeband Socialburn, Nonpoint, ONE and nu-metal giant Sevendust.

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