Jaden Smith’s new album shows surprising quality
If you know anything about Jaden Smith, it’s probably through his active Twitter account or his role in the film Pursuit of Happyness alongside his father Will. Though he has acted in a few movies, Smith seems to be following his father’s other career aspirations, as the young movie star has been steadily releasing music for the last few weeks, culminating in a new mixtape released Monday entitled Cool Tape Volume 2. Though Smith has a lot to learn about presentation and self-image, he has a lot of talent, and — ego aside — his newest album is both clean and technically superior to anything expected of a 16-year-old boy.
On the flip side · With old school beats and a modern flow, Jaden Smith has produced a quality record in Cool Tapes Vol. 2. The maturity of the record is surprising when contrasted with his questionable media appearances. – Photo courtesy of Columbia Records
In a joint interview with The New York Times this week, Smith and his sister Willow seemed incredibly arrogant, speaking on topics clearly beyond their years instead of their music. How could anyone take these two teenagers seriously after they attempt to talk about “quantum physics” and “[ancient texts] that can’t be pre-dated”? While I’m sure these two are just trying to make waves to get exposure, there are much smarter ways to do so without alienating every writer, teacher and musician with statements like, “There’re no novels that I like to read so I write my own novels, and then I read them again, and it’s the best thing,” or, “You never learn anything in school. Think about how many car accidents happen every day. Driver’s ed? What’s up? I still haven’t been to driver’s ed because if everybody I know has been in an accident, I can’t see how driver’s ed is really helping them out.”
Smith’s marketing campaign extends into his personal life as well, as his group of friends is a mix of B-team all-stars, some notoriously arrogant, that all have contributed to his work in some way. His close friend Kylie Jenner has promoted his work since the young rapper began putting out music, and she starred in his first music video for a track titled “Blue Ocean,” which happened to be directed by friend Moises Arias (Rico from Hannah Montana). Also on his team is Moises’s brother Mateo, or Teo in Smith’s lyrics, who seemingly produced some, if not all, of the tracks on Cool Tape Volume 2. With all these half-famous stars on his team, Jaden has attracted a lot of attention relatively quickly, signaling that he is trying to leave the acting world behind in pursuit of a real hip-hop career.
Self-image aside, Smith has been releasing music on an almost daily basis for over a month now, and most of it is really quite good. His first few releases on his sister’s or friend Teo’s Soundcloud accounts were clearly just experimentation with genres, as he ran through every style of hip-hop from slow R&B to spaghetti western-inspired tracks, but his album has a voice, and it is clear that he has recently spent a lot of time refining his style.
His beats are reminiscent of old school hip-hop, but his flow is modern, employing many stylistic aspects used by artists like Chance the Rapper and Childish Gambino. Staccato pauses and real-world atmospheric sounds highlight the postmodern style that is currently trending in hip-hop today, and Jaden clearly tapped into this new genre of hip-hop while crafting this album. He must have picked up many of his ideas on composition while working on Gambino’s most recent EP Kauai, as Jaden’s offbeat flow and lyrical creativity align with that of Gambino.
The content of this album focuses mainly on love affairs that never seem to pan out, which sometimes feels uncomfortable when considering the female vocals on the album are all provided by sister Willow. Smith references J.D. Salinger’s epitome of teen angst The Catcher in the Rye many times, comparing himself to Holden Caulfield, as expected of an angsty teen thrust into the spotlight too early. For all his ego outside the music, Smith is refreshingly honest in his work. It is clear that he is trying not to act his age, but his natural angst provides a solid foundation for creating relatable tracks about young love. There is a lot of California culture in Cool Tape Volume 2, making reference to PCH and other staples of beach life that contribute to a lighter vibe for the album overall. These two topics combine beautifully to create a confusion between happiness and depression that is both hard to describe and wholly familiar.
Smith has a lot of growing to do before he can be taken seriously as a mainstream artist, but his music certainly surpasses expectations and will be on my personal playlists for at least a week. With a compositional style all his own and lyrics beyond his years, Smith has, if nothing else, put his name on the watch list of every major music blog, and I can’t wait to hear what he creates next. But that’s not really what Smith cares about, as noted on his infamous Twitter account:
“People Use To Ask Me What Do You Wanna Be When You Get Older And I Would Say What A Stupid Question The Real Question Is What Am I Right Now.”
Matt Burke is a sophomore majoring in film production. He is also deputy design director at the Daily Trojan. His column, “Notes on Notes,” runs Thursdays.