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