For Jada, It Was Time To Rock
"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
posted by Tommy @ 5:22 AM
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Jada Pinkett Smith sings rock and is having a wicked good time
Friday, January 27, 2006
Gary Graff
Special to The Plain Dealer
If the "Matrix" series' butt-kicking Capt. Niobe sang, she might be in a band like . . . well, Wicked Wisdom. And so it is we find Jada Pinkett Smith putting aside her acting and fronting the hard rock troupe from Los Angeles, which has raised eyebrows by opening for Britney Spears and a few middle fingers when it played last summer's OzzFest. Give Smith and her cohorts their props, though; like her "Matrix" persona, the wife of rapper/actor Will Smith is ready to fight for her right to rock -- as hard as she wants. And trust us when we advise you to stay out of the way.
Why did you want to be in a band?
It just got to a point where I was like, "Now's the time." I've always loved music. I always had opportunities to do music. I had a couple of R&B cats who wanted to do stuff with me, but R&B music was just not where I wanted to go. I always wanted to do rock music.
Where does that come from?
My uncle introduced me to Ozzy [Osbourne], Pink Floyd, Queen, Santana, the Who, the Beatles. My aunt introduced me to Bob Marley. I've always had a very eclectic kind of sound in my home, and I've always just loved heavy rock and wanted an opportunity to do it. I just didn't know how I was gonna get there.
Is the band more collaborative than your acting work?
Hell, yeah. In acting, you're basically someone else's paint on the canvas, which is cool. I enjoy that process. But in music, and in this particular genre, I can bring more of myself. I can say the things I want to say. I don't have to be nice about it. It won't be like, "Ooh, Jada cussed" or "Ooh, she's talking about pedophiles" or something serious. I get to talk about [things] that I can't necessarily talk about on the red carpet.
Every band on OzzFest probably had the "Matrix" movies on their tour buses. Did they think it was cool Niobe was on the road with them?
I think the bands were a little like, "What is SHE doing here?" at first, until we started to really get out there and do our thing. Then the bands were like, "You know what, we got much respect for you guys for getting up there every day and doing your thing." They wanted to see what our getdown was, and then they were really cool with us.
Is Will threatened by having a snarling heavy-metal singer around the house?
Oh, no. [laughs] . . . The great thing about this whole experience for Will is that it's really inspired him musically. Now he wants to do some different musical things, and that's what being in a partnership is all about. It's about expanding one another.
Graff is a free-lance writer in Beverly Hills, Mich.
To reach Gary Graff:
music@plaind.com
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