Willow Smith has spent the entirety of her career in the limelight. It’s been eclectic and interesting, if not always stellar. Willow is clearly not interested in being a Top 40 popstar, though her stabs at higher consciousness through futuristic R&B have lacked the nuance of her more acclaimed peers. With her second album, the 17-year-old Willow faces the daunting task of avoiding a sophomore slump while having already reinvented herself twice before even graduating high school.
At this point, anything remotely musically challenging would be a relative win. But in a welcome turn of events, The 1st sees her leave the humdrum Soundcloud electrobeats well behind, opting instead for something more organic, substantial, and raw. These are all qualities that actually enhance her millennial-new-age persona instead of tempering it.
Upon first glance, the album still suffers from the same thematic editing issues that have always hampered the songs she writes. Opener “Boy” begins with the bluntly adolescent lyricism that gave her last album, Ardipithecus, its amateurish air: “Hey mom, I met a boy/He plays guitar/He likes Quentin Tarantino/And really sad songs.” It aims for “Leader of the Pack,” but sounds more like a saccharine diary entry.
But Willow displays a clear desire to grow as an artist and see her creative potential realized. As the album unfurls, each track digs deeper into this new down-to-earth, acoustic sound that seems tailor-made for her personal and reflective songwriting. “Boy” announces this tonal shift with plucked violins and lush strings, its pacing languid and relaxed. Willow’s voice settles into a throaty contralto, recalling Fiona Apple’s jazz-flecked vocals on Tidal.
In fact, for an album made by someone who wasn’t even born during the decade, The 1st is a surprisingly adept compendium of alternative female singer-songwriters of the 1990s. “And Contentment,” which features Willow on guitar, respectfully culls from Tracy Chapman’s introspective folk. The light grunge, crunchy guitar riffs, and strident vocals of “Human Leech” recall Alanis Morissette’s razor-sharp pop angst. An easy highlight, “Warm Honey” takes the indie rock breakbeats of Luscious Jackson and infuses them with Erykah Badu’s early mix of lilting R&B and esoteric imagery (“The universe is too bright/Light beams in the sky speaking to my third eye”).
Willow knows she’s talented and she knows that, due to her status, she has to prove that talent twice as much as anyone else. That The 1st is able to somewhat shed its lyrical blemishes within the first few tracks—evolving into a measured, intelligent, laid back soul-rock record—speaks to the tenacity with which Willow pursues her artistic goals. On much of The 1st, it sounds like Willow is still figuring out her own creative persona—the guitar playing on “Romance” feels simplistic, and tracks like the repetitive “Oh No!!!” bog down what would otherwise be a fresh sound. That said, Willow is clearly biding her time, searching for the optimal self. The 1st represents a huge leap in the right direction.
