What Willow Smith Really Thought About Working With St. Vincent and Being a Woman in Music

Avant-garde artist Willow Smith joined forces with fellow eccentric rocker St. Vincent for Smith’s May 2024 release, ‘empathogen.’ Smith certainly hasn’t minced words on what she really thought about working with Anne Clark.

Smith and St. Vincent’s collaboration came in the form of the heart-wrenching, paradoxical, and predictably sonically interesting track “pain for fun.” The song highlights just how well the two musicians’ voices and styles blend. From its sparse verses to the driving, emotional choruses, “pain for fun” is a beautiful amalgamation of both artists’ creative visions.

And for Smith, it was more than just a dream come true.

Willow Smith First Met Her “pain for fun” Collaborator As A Teen

St. Vincent has been cutting her teeth in the music industry since the early 2000s when Willow Smith, daughter of actors Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith, was still in diapers. While Smith was promoting her kidz-bop anthem “Whip My Hair” in 2009, Clark of St. Vincent was releasing and touring her timeless LP ‘Actor,’ which many fans consider one of her best works.

When Smith first met her future collaborator, she was a young teenager. In a conversation with St. Vincent for Interview Magazine, Smith admitted that, at the time, “I was p***ing my pants. I was so excited to meet you.” Starstruck feelings aside, Clark responded that she knew from their first introduction that Smith was more than just a giddy 14-year-old.

“You were always so self-possessed, so smart,” Clark told Smith. “All of that was so clear. You just happened to be a younger person. I’m proud of you for going anywhere that your brain and heart take you because you are so talented. You’re becoming even more yourself.”

From ‘Saturday Night Live’ To The Studio

It would take years after Willow Smith and St. Vincent’s mid-aughts meeting for the two to initiate a collaborative effort. “I started playing her guitars [produced by guitar company Ernie Ball Music Man] a few years ago, it was the only guitar I played, all the festivals, all my performances,” Smith explained to Vogue Australia. “And then I played SNL with her guitar, and she [said], ‘Oh my goodness, I’m obsessed.’”

“A few months later, we organically set up a time. I went to her studio, and we just messed around,” Smith continued. “It was one of the most beautiful moments of my life, seeing her creating at such a high level, but also knowing the [guitarist’s] gear. Knowing how to work a patch bay, all this technical s***, on top of being so creatively tapped in. I’ll never forget it.”

Smith echoed similar sentiments to Clark directly for Interview. She praised St. Vincent for her unapologetic process and ability to dial in her tone to the exact decibel. “It’s so powerful seeing you,” Smith gushed. “You know exactly how your vocal is supposed to be EQ’d, like the f***ing dB numbers, everything. I aspire to be that knowledgeable about those things, because music is not just the creative aspect. And as women in the music industry, I think it’s extra important for us to know these things because people try to take advantage of us all the time in ways that they couldn’t take advantage of us if we knew [the technical aspect of production].”