“t r a n s p a r e n t s o u l” pays tribute to the pop-punk bands that the artist took inspiration from during her teens.
Willow Smith releases her latest track “t r a n s p a r e n t s o u l” in anticipation of the upcoming album. The track features Travis Barker, a current drummer of a popular pop-punk band Blink-182.
The main message of the new single is all about being the best version of yourself you can be, no matter what circumstances you find yourself in.
The song takes heavy inspiration from such renowned pop-punk artists as Paramore, My Chemical Romance, and Fall Out Boy. Also, Willow Smith takes some tricks from her mother, Jada Pinkett Smith, who during Willow’s childhood was in a nu-metal band Wicked Wisdom.
With the song releasing right before her fifth album (which is set to come out this summer), the artist embraces the impact that famous pop-punk musicians have had both on her personality and her music, signaling also that Willow Smith is willing to experiment.
Despite the raw, dynamic, and confident energy from the “ t r a n s p a r e n t s o u l”, Willow was at first hesitant to release it, not being sure of how the audience is going to receive the song.
“I realized that it’s not my voice that can’t sing this kind of music,” she says. “I was afraid to sing this kind of music because I wasn’t sure what people would think.”
The mother’s influence is evident from Willow deciding to play the guitar on the track, feeling inspired to be as fully involved into the music creation process as possible.
As Willow puts it, “I personally feel it’s just really important to play an instrument if you’re going to have a career in music. Songwriting is 15 million times easier when you can actually write the songs.”
The singer has partnred with Travis Barker for “transparentsoul” — one of the best drummers in pop-punk and a long-standing member of another famous pop-punk band Blink-182.
Barker has previously collaborated with numerous artists in different genres, including FEVER 333, K.Flay, YUNGBLUD and phem.