“People do think that the only reason I’m successful is because of my parents”

Willow Smith has revealed that she feels a sense of “insecurity” when it comes to being a “nepo baby”.

The singer, songwriter and guitarist opened up about growing up in the public eye during a new interview, ahead of the release of her new album ‘Empathogen’.

In the discussion, the musician admitted that being the daughter of famous parents – Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith – led to feelings of self-doubt, and made her work even harder to achieve her goals in the music world.

“I definitely think that a little bit of insecurity has driven me harder because people do think that the only reason I’m successful is because of my parents,” she told Allure. “That has driven me to work really hard to try to prove them wrong. But nowadays, I don’t need to prove shit to anybody.”

Willow made her acting debut when she was just seven years old, alongside her father, in I Am Legend. When she was 10 she turned her sights to singing, releasing the hit song ‘Whip My Hair’ – which went platinum.

“I truly believe that my spirit is a strong spirit and that, even if my parents weren’t who they were, I would still be a weirdo and a crazy thinker.”

Speaking about the evolution of her music – which has seen her experiment with pop, rock and now Jazz – the singer explained that the shift between genres stems from her growing up and “starting to figure out what kind of musician I really want to be”.

“My mother allowed me to do that because she strongly believed that being able to express myself in that way was very important. And I completely agree with her because it helped me figure out who I am,” she said.

“I’m settling into more of who I am. And that doesn’t mean that screaming and shredding on the guitar is not who I am because it is, but I’m going a little bit deeper. It’s about being a well-rounded musician more than anything for me and not being pigeonholed into any specific genre.

“Everyone wanted me to make another rock album. I just always do the thing that everyone thinks is a bad idea. People thought that doing a rock album was going to be a bad idea, and then it turned out to be a good idea, and so I just have to trust myself because you live and die by your own hand. That’s the life of an artist.”

‘Empathogen’ is out now.

Willow is far from the first artist to speak out about the struggle for an artist to establish themselves amid claims of nepotism.

Last year, Gwyneth Paltrow called the term ‘nepo baby’ an “ugly moniker” as she openly supported her daughter’s career as a Chanel Model.

Liam Gallagher – whose son, Lennon is a professional model and musician – also hit out at critical fans online who highlighted the benefits that could come with having a famous parent, saying: “zip it ya jealous ugly fucks”.

Others to have spoken out include Lily Allen, Zoë Kravitz, Bono‘s daughter Eve Hewson, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Liam’s estranged brother and former Oasis bandmate Noel Gallagher.

The latter’s comments came after his daughter Anaïs – who is a photographer – said she was aware “how privileged” she is and “how much of a leg up my upbringing has given me”.