When I was 9 years old, I still tucked in my T-shirts because my mom told me to. I was too shy to talk to girls, but they had cooties back then anyway. And I most definitely did not, as far as I can remember, whip my hair back and forth.
These are just a few of the ways in which my childhood experiences differ from those of Willow Smith, the daughter of Will and Jada Pinkett Smith, who will turn 10 at the end of the month. That third reason I mentioned, if it sounded odd to you, is an allusion to the chorus of Willow’s new pop song, “Whip My Hair.” Alright, I guess that’s another difference; I still haven’t recorded a pop song, but only because I’ve been focusing on my schoolwork.
You wouldn’t know from listening to it that “Whip My Hair” is the product of a fifth-grader. Heavily produced with a killer beat and that staccato chorus, it could fit right in with some of Rihanna’s early jams. It’s the kind of song you could really “get down” to in a club, or whatever people say these days.
This is a little strange, of course, considering that even if Willow were twice her age, she’d still be denied entrance to most clubs. In a way, then, it’s as if she’s come out with her own label of Willow Wine, a brand of cigarettes or lottery tickets.
But I don’t want to dwell on whether or not it’s appropriate for Willow to record “Whip My Hair;” I happily defer to the judgment of Will Smith, the Fresh Prince himself, about stepping into the limelight early in life.
What I find more intriguing is how we, the pop music consumers, feel about listening to the song.
So I wandered around campus one day last week and asked a few dozen of you to fill out a quick survey. It prompted you to imagine that you’d heard an awesome new pop song that was sung by a 9-year-old, and asked if you would feel comfortable tapping your foot to the song, dancing to it at a club, or using it for mood music.
Two-thirds of men said they’d dance to the song at a club; two-thirds of women said they wouldn’t. A majority of students said they would not use the song as mood music, but just barely.
On average, students said a pop star should be about 18 before singing about mature themes.
The most popular question I got in return, not surprisingly, was whether the questionnaire had to do with Justin Bieber. He is 16, for the record, but that brings up an interesting point: There are quite a few young pop stars these days, and they don’t want to act their age.
In addition to Bieber Fever, of course, there’s Taylor Swift, who at 20 apparently considers herself mature enough to tell Kanye West, in song, at the Video Music Awards, that he has some growing up to do.
Disney pop princess Demi Lovato’s second album, “Here We Go Again,” topped the Billboard 200 charts in its first week last year, when Lovato was only 16. Nick Jonas, who turned 18 last month, thinks himself not just mature but presidential, calling his solo project Nick Jonas and the Administration.
This is a youth movement with a tone altogether different from little Michael Jackson singing “ABC” with the Jackson 5.
It is the adolescent crisis writ large, a group of teens and preteens demanding to be taken seriously, and we are in large part obliging them.
Still, Willow’s case is an extreme one; the closest parallel may be Britney Spears, who released her debut album when she was 17, and quickly changed from a Mouseketeer into a sex symbol.
Currently 17, Miley Cyrus’ latest single, “Can’t be Tamed,” is also both suggestive and dark.
There are hints of such sexuality in Willow’s song ““ “I whip it real hard,” she sings at one point ““ but the extent to which that quality will translate to her own personal image remains to be seen. Keep your eyes out for the music video for “Whip My Hair,” which should be appearing soon; it could set quite a precedent for preteens everywhere.