Willow Smith has not been in the public eye for a while, so the new track she released called “November 9^th” got a lot of attention. The song offers some words of wisdom to all of those who are confused and scared because of the election results.

“Baby girl, I know you’re tired, don’t let the world put out your fire,” Smith sings. “Take my hand and you will see sadness and anger aren’t everything.”

Smith released the track on SoundCloud and wrote, “I wrote this song on the day of the election. Peace and revelations to all!” The slow ballad is quite a change from the 2010 Willow Smith we used to know — the girl who breaks it down and whips her hair back and forth.

It’s interesting to see young artists reemerging as more mature versions of themselves. When an artist isn’t in the spotlight for a while, we can only tell what kind of person they are through their music, and that’s what we see here with Smith.

Her political awareness is admirable, showcasing her maturity, while inspiring all of her fans, from young teenagers to adults alike. Smith is only 16 years old, and as a young woman she is really being affected by the results of the election. Instead of protesting, or expressing anger such as some other artists or famous figures did, she is using her music and talents to spread hope and positivity alike.

“Baby boy don’t lose your sweetness, don’t think your humanity equals weakness,” Smith sings. “Take my hand and you will see, suppression and pain are not everything.”

The track is short, but it has an incredibly deep message. Smith has the ability to reach a younger demographic that is most likely confused about what the election results mean. I know when I was in my early teenage years, my political knowledge was limited for sure. Smith is telling her fans and those who are deeply saddened about the president-elect to push forward, and that goes such a long way.

She is begging for strength in our new world. Through the chaos and violence we’ve seen since Donald Trump was elected president, it’s moments like these where artists use their influence to bring calmness and a light at the end of the tunnel mindset to a dreadful situation.

It’s songs like these that make music tastemakers and fans realize how much music can actually change a situation. The track only lasts a minute and a half, but the emotion behind it goes so much farther. We see Smith’s transition as a young hip-hop artist having fun and releasing fun tracks to a mature and knowledgeable artist singing about suppression and pain.

Phoebe Smith is a junior public relations major. Her column appears weekly in Pulp. You can email her at phsmith@syr.edu or follow her on Twitter @phoebesmithh5.

Published on November 21, 2016 at 9:35 pm