Smith’s Seventh Studio Album Petal Rock Black Continues Her Evolution as One of Rock’s Most Experimental Voices
American musician Willow Smith released her seventh studio album Petal Rock Black last month and it is shaping up to by far her most experimental. Following 2024’s Empathogen,the 25 year old musician is still occupying the intricate space between rock and jazz and invoking sounds of alternative, R&B, and metal.
Self produced, in what a press release calls “a personal offering that honors the labor of creation of self, of sound, of community. It’s a celebration of life, of artistic dedication, and of all those who use their hands to shift culture toward something more beautiful”, Willow is joined by an unique roster of collaborators such as George Clinton of ParlimentFunkadelic, composer and multi-instrumentalist Kamasi Washington, and indie artist Tune Yards. An eclectic mix of sounds of blackness both old and new.
Writer Lina Lecaro, in her 2026 article for Rolling Stone, “Willow Leaves Expectations at the Door in Intimate Blue Note Performance”, writes, “the 25-year-old is focused on furthering the experimental journey of her last few six recordings, especially 2024’s Grammy-nominated Empathogen, which featured collabs with Jon Batiste and St. Vincent.
The new record opens with a spoken word intro from the funk father himself, George Clinton, which somewhat belies its lack of buoyant grooves, but sets the tone for its poetic and often esoteric themes.”
The 12 track album flows like one consistent score and the tracks are mere movements. Continuing the theme of self exploration and spirituality, Willow proves to be a lyricist of both peculiarity and precociousness.
Smith follows in the footsteps of her mother, Jada Pinkett Smith, who had a nu metal band called Wicked Wisdom in the 2000’s. Willow has spoken candidly about how seeing her mother on stage inspired her. Despite scoring a global hit at 10 years old with the infectious hit “Whip My Hair”, that was not the direction she wanted to stay in.
Over the course of the 2010s, she became prolific indie artist with offerings almost two years apart, establishing herself as one of the most distinct black female voices in rock: Ardipithecus (2015), The 1st (2017), Willow (2019), Lately I Feel Everything (2021), Coping Mechanism (2022), and Empathogen (2024). The latter scored her a Grammy nomination in 2025.
Petal Rock Black is available on all streaming platforms.
