Wicked Wisdom Frontwoman: Ozzfest Crowd 'Was Truly With Us' By End Of Tour
David Carr of the LA Daily News recently conducted an interview with WICKED WISDOM frontwoman Jada Pinkett-Smith (actress and wife of actor/rapper Will Smith). The question-and-answer session follows:
Q: What prompted you to start a heavy metal band? How did this take shape?
Jada Pinkett-Smith: "Three and a half years ago, I started to put together what would become WICKED WISDOM. I always wanted to start a band, and I grew up on hard rock and heavy metal. I have a strong love for the music, and it just made sense. For three years, we went through some transitions and different lineups and sounds. We tried a bit of a soul/rock thing, but I just wanted to go heavier than that. I met Pocket (guitarist for WICKED WISDOM), and we both had the same musical sense, which was very heavy music with melody. Everything seemed to fall into place after that."
Q: So you have been a fan of metal music?
Jada Pinkett-Smith: "I was a child of the '80s. Back then, metal truly seemed to rule the world, especially on MTV. It may be surprising to some but I have always listened to BLACK SABBATH, OZZY and GUNS N' ROSES, and my aunt and uncle loved QUEEN, LED ZEPPELIN and THE WHO as well as reggae and jazz. I come from a very eclectic musical background."
Q: How did the band get on the Ozzfest tour?
Jada Pinkett-Smith: "Sharon Osbourne (wife and manager of Ozzy Osbourne) saw the band at the Viper Room in Hollywood. At that time, a band scheduled to play the festival had to drop off the tour. Three days after the performance, we got the call asking us if we wanted to do the tour. At first we thought it was a bizarre request. We had to ask ourselves if we were heavy enough to even do the tour. In the end we decided to go for it."
Q: What was the response from the crowd?
Jada Pinkett-Smith: "The first six shows were really rough. We had a steep learning curve. Those first few shows, the fans were brutal. By the time we got to show No. 7 the audience started to come around. By the end of the tour, during our last set, we had three mosh pits going while we were playing. The crowd was truly with us."
Q: How much of the backlash against WICKED WISDOM was based on race?
Jada Pinkett-Smith: "I honestly have to say race was a very small issue throughout the whole tour. The biggest issue was the fact that I was an actress and people thought I had no business being on this tour. On a certain level, I can understand that issue. That was the work that had to be done. We had to prove ourselves."
Q: Was there a lot of camaraderie among the bands? Did you all feel welcome?
Jada Pinkett-Smith: "Oh yeah! I made so many friends. I think we all had a few preconceived notions, but it was great. I miss my boys from the tour. It really was like one big heavy metal summer camp. We treated each other like one big family, and I try and see these bands now when they are in L.A."
Q: Has your husband been supportive of your new career?
Jada Pinkett-Smith: "Will has been very supportive. He was a bit concerned at first because this whole scene is really new to him, but he came with me on tour and he brought our kids, and we all had a great time. My kids now ask if we are going back to Ozzfest next summer."
Q: What's next for WICKED WISDOM?
Jada Pinkett-Smith: "Our first full-length disc is set to be released Jan. 31 on Suburban Noize/100% Woman Records. The first single, 'Something Inside of Me', will drop in December. We are on tour now, and we will be on tour to promote the disc in January. We are the real deal. Too much of my heart and soul is in this for this to be a pet project. I love the relationship we have with our fans."
Q: What is the best part of doing something like this?
Jada Pinkett-Smith: "The best part of this is being the underdog. People come to the shows and don't know what to expect. When we take the stage and the music hits, I can literally see jaws dropping in the crowd because they just don't expect it. I love going off and surprising people with this band. The best part about the experience is we are having a good time and surprising people and impressing people with what we do. It is a tough position to be in but if you can take the pressure, it is also the best position to be in."
Source: Blabbermouth
What's Next?
- Previous Article:
Demiricous Post Two New Songs Online - Next Article:
Dead Water Drowning Reunion of Sorts
39 Comments on "Jada Pinkett-Smith: Crowd 'Was Truly With Us'"
Member
6. writes:
Beast has a point, if Will Smith gets in on it, though his intentions to be with his wife are good, if he does it, it would suck horribly, but hey, there's a good chance he won't do that.....Anyways, its good to see she was able to prove herself (Hey if she and her band can get 3 mosh pits out of an Ozzfest crowd, I think you earn credit)...And I'm suprised she was into the genre to begin with...This is awesome, and if she's good enough for Ozzfest, I'll go for it...So I guess I'll be looking out for WICKED WISDOM's debut album then....
Member
8. writes:
thedevil, lol at your comment! BTW, you ALSO have a point there.....
BTW, guys here that only see Jada for her being a "hot black woman" (Which she is), its wise NOT to take her for just eyecandy, she is going to actually try and stay in the game, and if she's as into it as she says, and she has enough skill to get listeners, then I'm sure she's got enough to stay in the game.....So all you horny pricks on here that are only saying "Oh yeah gimme some pics of Jada....Ooo, she's a hot black chick!" and sh** like that, just keep it to yourself. We already know she's attractive. So lets get past that and see her for what she is for/to the Metal genre. This actually reminds me of what all Rock/Metal fans do to women in Rock/Metal...All throughout Metal/Rock history.....Think of it......
Heart: Hard Rock band in the late 70s....Enough said...They were hot [at the time] (I don't know about now though). And most guys at the concerts weren't paying attention to their music (Which was straight classic/old school sh**!!!!)
The Runaways: all girl hard rock/[maybe] metal band. Most guys at their concerts were paying more attention to them [physically], than their music (Which wasn't all that bad either). And that was kinda sick, since they started out when they were still Teens (like 14/15 years old). So what you have is a bunch of would-be pedophiles back in the late 70s/Early 80s "admiring" them, not for their music, but for their "goods"
Wendy O. Williams: GREAT METAL of the 80s...Now she was kind of an exhibitionist, so maybe she wanted to guys to look at her do alot of shock-value sh**. But you don't know, plus she did alot of awesome stunts. But sadly, she burned out quickly and killed herself (God Rest Wendy O...True/Old School Metal \m/ 0_0 \m/ ). But again, more guys looking at her lesbo action on stage, than her music....
Lacuna Coil: Portuguese Goth-Metal band of 90s/Present Time. Their lead vocals is a [VERY DROP DEAD GORGEOUS portuguese] woman. But still, more guys looking at her, than those listening to their music. Which is pretty good for Goth-Metal...
RockB*tch: All girl [still] Underground Metal band from the UK. Now they do some [awesome] group lesbo action on stage, and offstage, but still more guys looking at them for their lesbo action. Which is hot, but still. Even their DVD is more of a porno than a Band documentary.
Kittie: All-girl Nu-Metal/Glam Metal band of the late 90s/Present time. Again, more guys doing this sh**, "I'd bone all of them!" rather than taking them for their music. Which was okay music, but nothing monumental...But still good nonetheless...They remind me of a female Canadian Korn if you ask me...But even I'll admit, when I saw them at first, my first thought was "Ooo, damn...Who is the black girl?"....But dudes, do a google/web search on her when you type "Fallon Bowman". She was the guitarist for Kittie (As well as the hottest member of the f***ing band in the first place), but then she left (Her reasons, not known as far as I'm concerned). But anyways, they got recognition by Metal fans after they opened for Slipknot on the "IOWA" tour....But still....More guys gawking at them (Even me at first, I'll admit it)....
Evanescence: Mainstream/Goth-Metal band of the millenium....They're okay, but they try too hard to be original. Amy Lee, the frontwoman of Evanescence, [though f***able], did something that is against the unwritten law of the music industry, SHE DATED WITHIN THE BAND! And did two members, which led to their demise as a band...But again, a bunch of guys objectifying Amy Lee, before listening to the music...
Oh yeah, last but not least, Arch Enemy, when they replaced Johan Lliva with Angela Gossow....Now they were a GREAT DEATH METAL band from the beginning, then Johan left. And they replaced him with Angela...Now since there was confusion about who the frontperson of them was after Johan (Because her vocals made us all think it was another guy...I remember when I first heard Angela on "Wages of Sin", I was like "Who's the frontman?" Then my "brother" told me it was a woman, and showed me a pic of her on the net)...Anyways, since there was confusion about Arch Enemy's new vocals, we all were suprised to find out it was a woman, but as soon as that fact arose, guys were just looking to see if she was hot...(But damn, she's a big woman! Not like obese big, but like if she came up to me in person on a dark night, I'd swear she would beat my ass! But still, fairly attractive for a white girl or tall person)....
But anyways. See, Whenever women get into Metal, most guys judge them by looks before they judge by their musical aptitudes....Lets try and avoid that please guys...And I say that as another guy, who sadly does the same sh** at first, I'll get out of that habit soon....Anyways, Jada and her band WICKED WISDOM, better be awesome, so hopefully, my money or theft skills won't have gone to waste...
Member
Member
11. writes:
asianfetish - I'd agree with much of what you said, and I like aspects of the list you've composed.
Lacuna Coil, Arch Enemy, Kittie - pretty good music once and IF you pay attention to it.
The reason all the sexuality is tossed around is because women are scarce in the business, attractive ones are even less frequent... I mean hell, everytime you go to a metal or hardcore show you see - 80% fat sweaty moshers, 15% skinny white guys (like myself, haha), just over 4% of the most hideous females you couldn't even imagine in a nightmare, and less than 1% attractive females.
That's just a shoddy break-down, of the actual demographics I'm not sure, but from alot of shows (at least those in NY and MA) those rates seem close.
I'd say because of the lack of attractiveness surrounding the genre - everyone wants to bone the hot new chick...
The other day I was talking to a woman I go to school with. She was talking about her 33 yr. old brother, and his taste in music. Anyhow something came up, something about metal, then something about Lamb of God and how he didn't know or care about the lyrical content... I'm beginning to wonder if people really care about lyrical content at all... I do personally. I'll admit there are times when I have to focus on the music (for lack of immediate understanding), but when I get it, if I relate to it, it stays.
How about all of you?
Do lyrics mean a thing?
Do they mean less when a woman, a hot woman, is singing / growling them?
13. writes:
NatalChaos is right.
Anyways, know why I check out women in bands like Lacuna Coil, Kittie, Wicked Wisdom and Evenascence? Because their music f***ing sucks.
Asainfetish did an okay rundown of all the chick bands (even though I'd say Wendo O. and the Plastics are more punk than metal), but I think he fell into a trap that most dudes and especially chicks do. They mistake sexuality for skill.
So they hear the band, and think 'okay, they're chick. Hey, for chicks, this sh** isn't bad.' Well that might be true, it doesn't take away from the fact that god-damn is Kittie so generic and unskilled that I'm amazed they were able to keep ahold of their instruments in concert.
Now let's look at Wicked Wisdom. Just because someone is 'a hot black woman' doesn't mean we have to empower her and hope she keeps making music. Wicked Wisdom = tribal metal that's not even real good. That's about it.
Sorry. There aren't many good female musicians in metal. Probably about 4 or 5 that're any well known. Just the way it goes, I guess. Like Football or something.
Member
16. writes:
OK, my error! Lacuna Coil is Italian!!! Sorry guys
Killingtime420, you've got a point, Alot of women in metal are fugly! And I pay attention to the music, and the lyrics....And them combined....
RollMonkey, thanks for correcting me on my errors....But still hopefully YOU ALL get my point
Member
Former Contributor
23. writes:
My stomach gets upset when people talk about metal and Wicked Wisdom in the same post.
The band strives for metal, especially the rhythm section (a few points should be given for effort) but the singer....can't....
Not only can she not sing, her lyrics are deplorable even by recent-Korn standards.....
Her....uhm......attempts at screams, growls and roars pretty much hit somewhere between funny and nauseating, like catching your brother in bed with an ugly chick with 4 chins.
WW need to throw in the towel, they're investing their time and money into something that is doomed to fail....
I'm all for seeing the minority prevail, there are entirely too few women and African Americans in this genre. If Jada Smith had the talent to fulfill her role as a black frontwoman in metal who could pen good lyrics and then execute them effectively live I would be in her corner.....
She is terrible however, but if she truely thinks this is her calling and it's what she loves to do I can't fault her on it.
Supporter
Member
Member
Member
30. writes:
titanoftaylor, Jada Pinkett was already a celeb dude, She's been in--good--movies as long as Will Smith has been in the music industry (If you remember "The Matrix: reloaded" and "The Matrix: revolutions", you'll know that Jada played Niobe in those films), SPEAK WHAT YOU KNOW DUDE. It's not like that guy that knocked up Britney Spears, now he's famous (or infamous) for being with Britney. Jada was already independently famous. But now she's just trying to get into the music genre. Now if she sucks at it, well, I guess it's not her calling, like she wants it to be...If that be it, then too bad for her....
We'z Niggaz, why am I a fag? I'm not racist, lithium is...ReRead the posts fool. And what the f*** is the point of your username? Are you black (If you're black, wussup, and get it straight)? A white racist trying to make a jocose/racial slur? just a stupid white guy? Or a combination of the last 2? Either way, you're either ignorant, sociopathical, or just obsolete in summary. Either way, please leave this site, and never reproduce....
And before anyone gets on me for use of the N-word, I'm black people...
And lithium, you're still a racist f*** that should never reproduce...Either Get some sense, get castrated, or get stuffed!
32. writes:
YOU REALLY NEED TO GET IN TO THE WORD OF GOD AND STOP SERVING AND EXPOSING YOUR FAMILY TO SATANS WICKED DEVICES! YOU ARE ON YOU WAY TO HELL AND ARE TRULY " BLIND TO THE FACT! STOP TRYING TO PLEASE THIS WICKED SYSTEM AND REALISE THAT WE ARE JUST PASSING THROUGH- YOU HAVE TO BE LIKE JONAH- LISTEN TO THE HOLY SPIRIT THAT IS TUGGING AT YOUR HEART AND SURRENDER TO OUR LORD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST- I WAS SO SURPRISED THAT YOU ARE INTO THE DEVILS MUSIC- THAT I HAD TO READ YOUR INTERVIEW - AND CAME TO THE NOTION THAT YOU ARE ACTUALLY INTO THIS MESS-- QUESTION- IF YOU THINK YOU ARE DRIVEN TO PERSUE THIS MADNESS
JUST ASK YOURSELF... HOW IS THIS GLORIFING OR REPRESENTING CHRIST???
WE ARE RUNNING OUT OF TIME LOST JADA AND WICKED SUPPORTERS... SAVE YOUR ENERGY FROM SUEVING SATAN WHO IS THE FATHER OF LIES AND SHOUT AND PRAISE THE KING OF KING AND LORD OF LORD JESUS... GOD... AND OH THAT WAS A DEMONIC OUTFIT!!! GET SAVED GET RIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Member
36. writes:
To all of the people going on about how sh**ty you think some of these bands are, get a life. If you don't like a band, don't listen to them. And I'm sure they'll cry about it all the way to the f***ing bank. I've listened to a many of these bands, and while some of them are merely ok, some of them are quite talented, and even if you don't enjoy them, there's apparently enough people who do that they go on making music, not giving a sh** about your opinion.
And no matter what race you are, racial epithets (that means slang words, for the slow minded among you) are for morons. Coming up with nothing more than a random insult in response to someone else's post shows nothing but that you are too f***ing stupid to more than waddle up to the computer and bang out some moronic words.
38. writes:
I will agree with some of you. WW does remind me of Otep. But I've heard a couple of Otep's songs and I kinda like them. Big ups to Jada for doing this. She's gotta have a huge set of balls to be doing this. I couldn't believe it when I found out what was going on. I won't rag on her for doing what she 'loves'...I mean why else would she do this?
Hopefully things work out for the band. Who knows, she might be opening up the doors for other chicks in the future who wanna do the metal/rock thing but they don't think they'll make it out the door.
I kinda like the song...I said kinda...
FYI: Incubus still ROX!! (Even though they're softening up) Besides Brandon's one of the hottest guys altrock has to offer
39. writes:
to asianfetish: this name is being used by more than just me...which is f***ing hilarious...and just because you "know" about what she is famous for doesn't mean your retarded opinion will be cared about...quit wasting your time dipsh**
to the retarded girl:
f u c k you, i can't wait to go to hell
To minimize comment spam/abuse, you cannot post comments on articles over a month old.
Member
1. Rue writes:
The Ozzfest crowd was truly with WIcked Wisdom like Jesus Christ is truly with me now.