Jada Pinkett Smith Lives Out Her Axl Rose Dreams

Actress/singer puts movie work on hold to concentrate on Wicked
Wisdom.

If you ever picture it at all, the music you might expect to hear
pumping from the stereo at Will Smith's house is probably some old-
school hip-hop: Spoonie Gee, classic KRS-One, a bit of Grandmaster
Flash. But if wife Jada Pinkett Smith is home, it's more likely to
be an ear-bleeding mix of metal from Mastodon, A Dozen Furies, Otep
and Bury Your Dead.

"I listened to all kinds of metal as a kid," said Pinkett Smith, who
has spent the past few years honing her hard-rock chops as
frontwoman of Wicked Wisdom, a band that's put in such serious road
time lately that the actress has been all but invisible on the big
screen since its formation four years ago. "Metallica, Guns N'
Roses. I would always look at Axl Rose and say, 'Why aren't there
any chicks out there doing this now?' I always wanted an opportunity
to get out there and rock out."

So in 2002 Pinkett Smith decided it was now or never. She called a
friend in the music biz and asked him to help her get a band
together and shortly after, she met the Zakk Wylde to her Ozzy,
guitarist Pocket Honore. At first, the group tried out a "rock/soul
fusion thing" that didn't quite feel right, hitting the road in 2004
opening for the European leg of Britney Spears' Onyx Hotel tour.

"It was on that tour that we realized we wanted a more metal thing
and we started writing more on that tip," she said. "It just started
getting heavier and heavier, and that's when it clicked for us."
Around that time, Honore brought on keyboardist/rhythm guitarist
Cameron Graves and former Fishbone drummer Phillip "Fish" Fisher.
While Pinkett Smith was finding her inner demon as the band worked
out grinders like "You Can't Handle This" in the studio, the real
trial by fire came last summer when the untested group hit the
Ozzfest stage (see "Ozzfest Gets Jiggy? Jada Pinkett Smith's Band
Added To Lineup").

Honore, who cut his chops working on R&B and hip-hop tracks with
everyone from Erykah Badu to Patti LaBelle, gave up his lucrative
production/session playing career to sign on with Pinkett Smith. He
said the actress was understandably nervous when they first started
playing together, but by the time they hit Ozzfest, her confidence
was apparent. "At first it was too cute and we all agreed it had to
be more brutal," he said. "Cameron is big into Meshuggah and I love
Slipknot, so we played her some tracks along those lines and she
said, 'Yeah, right there!' "

Four lineups and two albums' worth of material later, the band
jelled, and Honore was ready for anything that Ozzfest crowds could
dish out. "I done been in barroom brawls before," he said, citing
some early dates that were a bit rocky. "But once word got out that
we weren't a joke, people started coming out and by the sixth or
seventh gig we were on fire."

Pinkett Smith, who listened to everything from Duran Duran to Led
Zeppelin, John Coltrane, Prince, Pink Floyd and Mozart as a kid,
described the feeling of rocking onstage as being wholly different
from kicking ass as Niobe in "The Matrix" sequels.

"Onstage, I'm giving them Jada, versus me giving them a character,"
she said. "And some people like Jada and some don't, and that's part
of it. It really grounds you and empowers you when you can get
onstage and know you had a good show someplace where no one's ever
heard of you. And the audience might not be that enthusiastic, but
you rocked out and had a good-ass time. The difference is when you
do a crappy movie in Hollywood, everyone says 'great job.' On
Ozzfest, if you're crappy they get you off the stage and you know
where you stand. Nobody's out there clapping because they want to
protect your feelings."

Though songs like "Don't Hate Me" do have Pinkett Smith showing off
her Korn-inspired rap skills, hubby Will has made a conscious effort
to let Wicked Wisdom stay Jada's thing. Besides, she knows she
doesn't flow well. "I asked him about my little rap thing on that
song and he was like, 'You know, it's cool.' "

Opinion on Wisdom's upcoming self-titled debut album (out February
21) is split in the Smith household. While son Jaden likes mommy's
songs, he's more of a hip-hop head and is always asking for Will's
music. Five-year-old daughter Willow, however, is a huge metal
fan. "She has as better growl than I do," Pinkett Smith said. "I
dropped her off at school the other day and she said, 'You know I'll
have a better band than you do.' " You've been warned. Look for
Bloody Eye on Ozzfest 2018.

Except for a pair of projects she's considering for this summer,
Pinkett Smith has put her acting on hold to concentrate on Wicked
Wisdom. They are currently on the road opening for Sevendust and
have more dates planned for late summer and fall. "This is passion,"
she said, pointing to some of the dark themes she wrote about on
such songs as "Bleed All Over Me" (codependency) and "Something
Inside of Me" (pedophilia) as examples of the release the band
affords her. "I feel really blessed and grateful to have this
opportunity."

Wicked Wisdom track listing, according to Pinkett Smith:


"Yesterday Don't Mean"
"Something Inside of Me"
"One"
"Bleed All Over Me"
"Cruel Intentions"
"You Can't Handle"
"Forgiven"
"Set Me Free"
"Don't Hate Me"
"Reckoning"


Wicked Wisdom tour dates, according to the band's publicist:


2/2 - Fort Wayne, IN @ Piere's
2/3 - South Bend, IN @ Club Fever
2/4 - Cincinnati, OH @ Bogart's
2/5 - Baltimore, MD @ Rams Head Live
2/9 - Springfield, IL @ The Warehouse
2/11 - Appleton, WI @ The Checkered Flag
2/12 - Milwaukee, WI @ The Rave
2/14 - Englewood, CO @ Gothic Theatre
2/16 - Boise, ID @ Big Easy
2/17 - Spokane, WA @ Big Easy
2/21 - Portland, OR @ Roseland Theater
2/25 - San Diego, CA @ House of Blues
2/26 - West Hollywood, CA @ House of Blues
2/28 - Anaheim, CA @ House of Blues
3/2 - Tempe, AZ @ Marquee Theatre
3/3 - Las Vegas @ House of Blues


— Gil Kaufman


For More Information On Jada and Wicked Wisdom, Please Visit:

www.thejadapages.com