Pinkett Smith's band plays The Moon tonight
By Kati Schardl
Democrat Staff Writer

There aren't a whole heck of lot of speed metal bands out there
fronted by women of color.

In fact, there may only be one such rare beast — Wicked Wisdom,
featuring lead singer Jada Pinkett Smith, known to most as an
actress from such films as the "Matrix" movies and "The Nutty
Professor." Her bandmates include Pocket Honore (guitar), Rio
(bass), Cameron Graves (guitar) and Phillip "Fish" Fisher (drums), a
founding member of Fishbone.

Wicked Wisdom is amping up interest for its upcoming self-titled
debut album on a multi-band tour that rumbles into Tallahassee for a
show tonight at the Moon. The lineup also includes nu-metal titan
Sevendust, Calhoun County band-made-big Socialburn, ONE and Nonpoint.

Get there early and stake out your sightline. You won't want to
miss Wicked Wisdom's early set. The band's blistering, genre-busting
sound mixes metal riffs with funk grooves to create an electrifying
sonic base for Pinkett Smith's searing, soaring vocals.

Wicked Wisdom's sound reflects the current selections on Pinkett
Smith's iPod.

"I've got (Swedish metal band) Meshuggah, (black metal band) Otep,
(death-metal band) God Forbid, Black Label Society (featuring former
Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Zakk Wylde) mixed in with Sade, Ani
DiFranco, old-school Prince, Maxwell and Miles Davis," Pinkett Smith
laughed. "I listen to everything."

Pinkett Smith was speaking on a cell phone earlier today en route to
an interview at a Tallahassee radio station.

"I've always loved all types of music," she continued. "My uncle
introduced me to bands like Led Zeppelin, Ozzy Osbourne and Pink
Floyd, and my mom was a huge Who fan.

"Then in high school, Guns 'N Roses was one of my favorite bands.
I've always loved heavy music."

Pinkett-Smith, a 35-year-old Baltimore native, went to school with
another musical revolutionary, late rapper Tupac Shakur. The two
became close friends at the Baltimore School for the Arts. Pinkett
Smith went on to marry rapper-turned-actor Will Smith in 1997. They
have two children, son Jaden and daughter Willow.

"My kids love having a rock 'n' roll mom," Pinkett Smith
laughed. "My son is more of a hip-hop head, but my daughter is a
really big rock fan. She tells me, 'Mom, you know I'm going to have
a better band than you.'

"The girl is 5 years old. She comes up with about 10 new band names
a day."

Pinkett Smith said the whole family came along when Wicked Wisdom
was invited to play on the second stage for last summer's Ozzfest
dates.

"It's not as wild and crazy as people try to make it seem," she
said. "It's a real family affair. People bring their kids to the
shows and a lot of the band members have families, too."

Wicked Wisdom was born of Pinkett Smith's ambition to make
revolutionary metal music. She and Honore recruited the other
members and started writing songs. Pinkett Smith supplies the bulk
of the input on lyrics.

She's proud of the upcoming CD, which will be released on Feb. 21.

"The album takes you on a real roller-coaster ride," Pinkett Smith
said. "It's very different from anything out there right now. It's
who Wicked Wisdom is."

And it's very much part of who Pinkett Smith is — for now, at least.

"This is definitely where I want to focus my creative energies," she
said.