Willow Talks New Album ‘Empathogen,’ Reflects on ‘Whip My Hair’ 10 Years Later & More | Billboard News

Willow talks about her new album Empathogen, how it different from her last album, the vision she had for the two singles “Alone” and “Symptom of Life,” reflects on the virality and success of “Whip My Hair” 10 years later, the success “Meet Me At Our Spot,” how her biggest music influences came from her mom, the potential of collaboration with her brother Jaden Smith and more!

Willow:
And there’s something to learn from that. You know what I’m saying? And it’s beautiful.

Tetris Kelly:
Sometimes you don’t gotta think about it, you just gotta put it out there.

Willow:
I’m gonna remember that this is looking at, I’m gonna remember that. Hey, I’m Willow, and this is Billboard News.

Tetris Kelly:
Hey, it’s Tetris with Billboard News hanging out with someone who doesn’t really need an introduction, but hi, Willow! How are you?

Willow:
Hi, I’m so good, I’m so happy to be here.

Tetris Kelly:
I’m so excited about your new album. It’s out this week — nervous?

Willow:
Oh, my goodness, I don’t think I’ve ever been more excited for a project to come out. I’m just I can’t wait for people to hear it.

Tetris Kelly:
And the title, love that Empathogen. Tell me the inspiration about why you wanted to name the album that?

Willow:
Well, you know, during the time that you know, these songs were kind of coming into being and I was creating this concept for the album, I was learning a lot about indigenous plant medicine. Another, you know name for these molecular compounds. These ancient molecular compounds are called empathogens — empathy and pathogens — pathogens that create empathy when you ingest them. And yeah, I just … I just thought that was a really beautiful explanation of, you know, kind of how I want to walk in the world, how I want to affect the space when I enter the space. And I just thought that was a really cool name.

Watch the full video above!