Willow Smith’s Empathogen deluxe edition adds new tracks, reflecting on healing, growth, and finding acceptance in a chaotic world.
Singer-songwriter Willow Smith released a deluxe version of her sixth album Empathogen. Largely seen as a continuation of the critically acclaimed LP, which also scored the 23rd old her first # 1 album on the Billboard Jazz Album Chart, three new songs have been added in the deluxe edition. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Willow speaks about the challenge of healing she encountered while working on the project.
“Empathogen was really a journey for me figuring out how do you do the work? How do you heal?… Every song is an exploration of this beautiful, tragic world that we live in and how do we come to terms — not even how to come to terms, because I don’t think that’s really the goal. I think it’s about grace and compassion and acceptance and being able to see the world for its beauty and its ugliness and accept it all and love it all.”
Another word comes to mind as Willow shares her sentiments: Eluxoroma. Eluxoroma is defined as “devotion to positive spiritual growth in the midst of darkness and chaos”. In today’s world, there is a lot of chaos and darkness, with economic disparities, climate crises, political unrest, and social apathy being incredibly present. How does one navigate or attempt to thrive in the midst of all the aforementioned?
Brian Klaas, in his 2024 article for The Atlantic, writes, “The 21st century has been defined by unexpected shocks—major upheavals that have upended the world many of us have known and made our lives feel like the playthings of chaos… even daily life can feel like a roll of the dice: With regularity, some Americans go to school, the grocery store, church, a concert, or the movies and get gunned down in a random act of mass murder.”
There is also this popular social media meme among Millennial and Gen Z groups alike where they express their frustration and disdain for living through various historical events that have become the breeding ground for collective trauma: COVID-19 pandemic, 2016 and 2020 Presidential Elections, etc. Moreover, both groups are highlighted for their dramatic redesigning of what the American Dream looks like for them.
According to a recent study from the U.S. Census Bureau, more than 1 in 3 (34%) people have never been married in 2022 compared to the 23% in 1950. Moreover, according to a 2023 article from the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, “ Six in 10 each of Millennials and Gen Z see climate change as a critical threat to US interests (59%), compared to just about half each of Gen X (52%), Boomers (51%), and the Silent Generation (49%).”
Furthermore, the question of how can eluxoroma be achieved during these times of darkness and uncertainty?
