2007–2013: Acting and music endeavors Smith made her acting debut in
I Am Legend alongside her father. Her next film,
Kit Kittredge: An American Girl, was released on July 2, 2008. In 2008, she voiced the character of young Gloria the hippo in
Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, alongside her mother as Gloria the hippo. On June 28, 2010, Smith's mother, Jada Pinkett Smith, announced in an interview on
Lopez Tonight that Smith would be releasing an album. Smita Grammy Award, and an MTV Video Music Awardh then released her first single, "
Whip My Hair", which went platinum in the US and peaked at number 11 on the
Billboard Hot 100. In the UK, the single peaked at number two. Its video was nominated for Video of the Year at the
BET Awards of 2011. Smith soon after announced her next single, "
21st Century Girl". After she performed the song on
The Oprah Winfrey Show, she released it the next day on February 3, 2011. The video was released on March 9, 2011. On January 20, 2011, Will Smith announced he was planning to produce a
contemporary remake of the Broadway musical
Annie starring Smith in the title role. However, Smith was deemed too old and the title role was given to
Quvenzhané Wallis in February 2013. On October 6, 2011, "Fireball", a collaboration between Smith and rapper
Nicki Minaj, was released. "Fireball" was a commercial failure, failing to chart in any type of music market, except the US R&B chart, charting at 121. Smith's producer announced that she was almost finished working on her debut album and would be done soon. He also said it has a similar style to "Whip My Hair". The title of the album was later announced to be
Knees and Elbows. It was scheduled to be released around April 2012, but was later announced that it would be postponed for release later in the year. On May 1, 2012, she released a music video for "Do it Like Me (Rockstar)", saying that it was her "first video ever". On September 16, 2013, Smith performed "Summer Fling" on the series premiere of
The Queen Latifah Show. During the performance, she said: "Just for clarity, the word
fling means something that's short lived...And this song is dedicated to all the kids around the world whose summer is never long enough."
2014–2018: 3 EP, Ardipithecus, and The 1st On October 24, 2014, Smith and
FADER announced that Smith would be releasing her debut
EP, titled "3", on October 31, 2014, for free via
Google Play for a limited time and November 10, 2014, but it was later pushed to November 17, 2014, via iTunes. The same day, she held a concert in New York City at The FADER Fort, where she performed select tracks from her new EP with
SZA. She also performed the song "5" with her brother, as well as "Summer Fling" and a new rendition of her famous hit "Whip My Hair". Smith released the single "F Q-C #7" on May 7, 2015. An accompanying music video was released the same day on
Vevo. After the release in September of a video to the track "Why Don't You Cry" on i-D, Willow released her first album
Ardipithecus on December 11. About her debut album's title, Willow said "
Ardipithecus Ramidus Sahelanthropus tchadensis is the scientific name of the first hominid bones found on earth. I wanted to name my musical compilation after it because, while I was making these songs, I was in such a transitional state. Digging deep in the soil of my heart and finding bits and pieces of my ancient self that tell stories, which end up being the lyrics to the songs." On her birthday, October 31, 2017, she released her second album
The 1st which is praised for its musical development, particularly Willow's ability to create music following her 1990s R&B predecessors, despite not having been alive during the time. She toured the album with
Jhene Aiko alongside St. Beauty, Kodie Shane, and Kitty Cash through the end of 2017. Along with her mother and grandmother, Adrienne Banfield-Norris, Smith hosts
Red Table Talk, a web talk show for which she received a
Daytime Emmy Award nomination.
2019–2021: Willow, The Anxiety, R I S E, and Lately I Feel Everything Willow was managed by Will Smith's management company, Westbrook Entertainment, until March 2019 when Three Six Zero, an established management firm acquired Westbrook. Following the acquisition, on June 24, 2019, Smith announced her third studio album,
Willow. It was released on July 19, 2019, and was co-produced by herself and Tyler Cole. The duo later released a collaborative album titled
The Anxiety in 2020. Also in 2020, Willow released
R I S E, a six-track EP made in collaboration with British mantra-singer and violinist
Jahnavi Harrison. Wonderland magazine described it as "a[n] idyllic garden surrounded by angelic ethereal vocals and shimmering productions", with "birds chirping sweetly over melodic guitar strings". On April 27, 2021, Smith released "
Transparent Soul" featuring
Travis Barker, a
pop-punk song that was her first foray into that genre. Smith released her fourth album
Lately I Feel Everything on July 16, featuring guests artists including
Tierra Whack and
Avril Lavigne. In late 2021, "
Meet Me at Our Spot" from
The Anxiety reached the
Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 21. That same year,
Time named her one of the
100 most influential people in the world. Also in 2021, she won Entertainer of the Year for her work on
Red Table Talk at the
EBONY Power 100 awards, and was placed on ''
Billboard's'' 'Greatest Pop Stars of 2021' list, being named the 'Comeback Artist of the Year'. Smith was also placed on the 2022
Forbes 30 Under 30 list.
2022–present: Coping Mechanism, Empathogen, and Petal Rock Black In February 2022, a preview from Willow Smith's book
Black Shield Maiden, co-written with Jess Hendel and set to be published through
Penguin Random House, was shared on social media and criticized by users for depicting the
Amazigh, an ethnic group indigenous to
North Africa, as "thieves and slavers". Others have also critiqued the book for adopting a colonialist view of
Muslim people. In February 2022, Smith pulled out of
Billie Eilish's
Happier Than Ever, The World Tour due to production limitations. On April 8, 2022, Smith featured on
Camila Cabello's track "
Psychofreak" from Cabello's third studio album
Familia. A music video for the song was released on the same day, followed by a live performance on
Saturday Night Live. In June 2022, Smith released "
Maybe It's My Fault", the first single from her fifth studio album. She released the album's second single, "
Hover Like a Goddess", in August 2022. She released
Coping Mechanism, her fifth studio album, on October 7, 2022, through
Roc Nation. She performed "Curious/Furious" and "Ur a Stranger" from the album on
Saturday Night Live on October 8, 2022. On March 12, 2024, she released the song "
Symptom of Life". She announced
Empathogen, her sixth studio album, on April 11, 2024 alongside the release of its second single, "
Big Feelings". The album was released on May 3, through Three Six Zero and
Gamma. She performed on the
NPR Tiny Desk Concert series in May 2024. A deluxe edition of
Empathogen, titled
Ceremonial Contrafact, was released on September 27, 2024, with three additional tracks. In February 2026, Smith released a short film as a teaser for her seventh album,
Petal Rock Black. The album released on February 17, 2026. ==Personal life==