Willow Smith Enters Nepo Baby Discourse: I Dont Need To Prove S**t To Anybody

Willow Smith is acknowledging her silver-spoon upbringing but giving herself some grace.

The 23-year-old Whip My Hair singer is well aware of the discourse surrounding nepo babies , a term that describes the nepotism afforded to privileged celebrity children, but she isnt going to let her parents Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith steal her thunder.

I definitely think that a little bit of my insecurity has driven me harder because people do think that the only reason Im successful is because of my parents, she told Allure in an interview Thursday . That has driven me to work really hard to prove them wrong.

But nowadays, Smith continued, I dont need to prove shit to anybody.

The young musician has forged an impressive career, including collaborations with artists like Nicki Minaj and Travis Barker. Shes also won an NAACP Image Award and earned a Daytime Emmy nod  as the co-host of her moms Red Table Talk series.

She made her movie debut at only 6 years old in her dads 2007 blockbuster I Am Legend, but she argued Thursday that shes mainly successful because of her strong spirit and said, Even if my parents werent who they were, I would still be a weirdo and a crazy thinker.

Smith also argued that the nepo baby discourse doesnt fully apply to Black Americans.

Being Black in America, even with privilege, which Im never going to deny that I have, youre still Black, she told Allure. And I love being Black. People would look at me and [say], Okay, well, her parents are this and this and that, but she is still like me. She still has brown skin. And we all know that that doesnt exempt you from anything.

Smith noted that her upbringing, while privileged, was always rooted in discipline and self-awareness. She claimed her parents were always so extreme about looking people in the eyes and being very respectful to all, and argued, theres not a lot of that these days.

While Allison Williams mightve had the best reaction to being a nepo baby, Smith is already miles ahead of Zooey Deschanel and her comments on the topic . In the end, Willow told Allure that most of her doubts merely reflect the things that people have said to me.