Willow Smith signs to Jay-Z's record label

The youngest child of the Fresh Prince draws comparisons to Rihanna with her debut single, "Whip My Hair"

Published September 10, 2010 6:50PM (EDT)

Willow Smith sighted leaving her hotel on July 17, 2010 in London, England.
Willow Smith Sighting In London - July 17, 2010
London, England United Kingdom
July 17, 2010
Photo by Simon James/FilmMagic.com

To license this image (61071633), contact FilmMagic.com (Simon James/filmmagic.com)
Willow Smith sighted leaving her hotel on July 17, 2010 in London, England. Willow Smith Sighting In London - July 17, 2010 London, England United Kingdom July 17, 2010 Photo by Simon James/FilmMagic.com To license this image (61071633), contact FilmMagic.com (Simon James/filmmagic.com)

Does Will Smith's superstar DNA run through his entire family? First his son Jaden stars with Jackie Chan in a remake of "The Karate Kid." Now his 9-year-old daughter, Willow, releases her first hip-hop single ... and signs to Jay-Z's Roc Nation record label a day later! Do we have the makings of a new Hollywood dynasty? A Fresh Princess, if you will?

Unlike many other celebrity spawn, Smith shows a lot of promise. Her single is surprisingly catchy, for starters. Jay-Z claims Willow isn't "too young" to be a superstar in an interview with Ryan Seacrest. He even compares her to Michael Jackson: “She has a child's innocence but she has a clear vision of who she is and who she wants to be.”

MTV notes people like Alfredo Flores -- Justin Bieber's music video director -- are already comparing her to Rihanna. The blog Hello Beautiful lists five reasons why she'll replace Rihanna. The fashion blog Bitten & Bound praises her daring fashion taste in a photo slideshow. Meanwhile, the YouTube video of her song has already surpassed a million hits. Oh, and she can't watch a PG-13 movie by herself. 

But Perez Hilton warns Smith to watch out -- Snoop Dogg plans to get his sons Corde and Cordell to record an "unstoppable" track with David Beckham's boys. Is she the model for a new type of barely preteen idol? Check out Smith's million-hit single, "Whip My Hair." What did you do in fifth grade? 


By Christopher Hickey

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