New Music – Jaden Smith Drops “Icon” Video and Explains Why It Took 3 Years to Make ‘SYRE’
Jaden Smith’s debut album, SYRE, was released late last night. It’s daunting in size and scope: it clocks in at 70 minutes and folds in pieces of post-Frank Ocean pop, post-808s electro-R&B, and post-high school ennui. It was a labor of love, one that the enigmatic 19-year-old says took him three years to complete.
Though he’s famous for his cryptic, sometimes inscrutable tweets, conversations with Smith are clear and almost alarmingly comfortable. Complex spoke with him about the labor that went into SYRE, the two other famous musicians in his family, and his many plans for the betterment of humanity.
You’ve been in the public eye for most of your life, but it seems like SYRE is poised to get more attention than just about anything you’ve done before. Are you nervous?
Yeah man, it’s a completely different experience getting ready for it to come out. I am nervous. I am antsy about it. I know that once it goes out, it’s gonna be out forever—and that’s a good thing, because I really want people to be able to connect with it, and look back on it, and talk about it. I’m doing it all for the youth, so I have to let it go.
Well, the saying is that art is never finished—it’s just abandoned. How did you know it was ready?
I think that it was ready because people around me were saying that the world needs it. Signs that I’ve gotten—lucky numbers, specific times. Also because I’ve had it for three years, and like you were saying, art’s never truly finished, it’s just abandoned. I also feel like, how is art really art if no one ever sees it or hears it? I want to let it out into the world so people can judge it, say “Hey, I like it” or “I don’t like it,” because that’s the only way we’re gonna move forward.
Jaden Smith – The World According To Jaden Smith
Read full interview on Complex below