Jaden Smith revealed in a recent interview that he’s an old soul who has preferred adult conversations to people his own age since he was a kid.
The 23-year-old rapper admitted he would much rather discuss politics or culture than more frivolous pursuits in a talk for BigBoyTV published in early April.
During the chat, the After Earth star also explained that his parents, Will and Jada Smith, never had “expectations” that he would pursue their path with a career in the entertainment industry, although they made it clear that he “lived up to it.” must [their] Expectations.’
Older conversations: Jaden Smith, 23, was trolled on social media after admitting in an interview in early April that he preferred talking to adults to chatting with his peers when he was younger
“I’m very fortunate that I spent my childhood with more adults than kids my age because I picked up more things from adults than I did [sic] of kids my age,” said Jaden, who wore a baby blue hoodie and dyed blonde hair to his interview.
He then began to babble at kids and teens with a high-pitched screech, shouting, “Bro! Look at my phone! Selfie!’
“I’m just like that, dude, like, oh my god. Can we talk now about the political and economic state of the world?” he continued in a deeper, more mature tone. “Can we talk about what’s going on in the environment? Can we talk about other things?’
While he enjoyed more serious pursuits, he didn’t mind having a little fun now and then.
“I like showing up. I like to flex. I like playing songs loud and throwing myself into crowds in Atlanta,” he explained.
“I’m very fortunate that I spent my childhood with more adults than kids my age because I picked up more things from adults than I did [sic] of children my age,” he said
Chasing after him: Twitter users scoffed at his admission that he preferred to chat about the “political and economic state” of the world
Laughing: A user shared a still image of SpongeBob SquarePants looking sad. “Eight-year-old Jaden Smith when Jada gave him a Spider-Man birthday party instead of a book study about the War in Mesopotamia,” they joked
Not all business: Jaden admitted he still liked to have fun sometimes. “I like showing up. I like to flex. I like playing songs loud and throwing myself into crowds in Atlanta,” he explained
But he added that he can’t be completely “satisfied” when he’s at a “party.”
“I’m always looking for the next one,” he said.
The segment of the interview spurred a series of taunting posts about Jaden on Twitter as trolls mocked his desire for a more high-spirited conversation.
One user posted photos of Travis Scott anxiously rubbing his forehead and wrote, “Jaden Smith when he sees kids going to birthday parties instead of discussing politics and the state of the world economy.”
Another user shared a humorous still image of SpongeBob SquarePants looking sad and drained.
“8-year-old Jaden Smith when Jada gave him a Spider-Man birthday party instead of a book study about the war in Mesopotamia,” they jokingly wrote.
One tweet included a video of Cristiano Ronaldo excitedly standing to accept an award.
“Jaden Smith after telling every kid during recess they only have 20 years to live because of global warming,” the author wrote.
Close to home: A Twitter user poked fun at him with a still from The Pursuit Of Happyness, in which he starred with his father, Will Smith
Ridicule: Another person posted a humorous drawing of a man whose brain has grown so big he can sit on it. How did Jaden Smith feel when he said to a group of middle school students, “Brother, can we talk about the political and economic state of the world now?
No comment: Jaden avoided any discussion about the moment his father slapped Chris Rock at the Oscars; seen on 03/27
Others included photos of Jaden, including one person sharing a set photo from his film The Pursuit Of Happyness with his father, Will Smith.
“My favorite part of The Pursuit of Happyness was when young Jaden Smith said to Will, ‘Father, the socioeconomic state of New York City will not allow you to maintain a basic door-to-door salesman lifestyle, you should try to stick with an investment instead,” wrote the user.
Another person posted a humorous drawing of a man with a brain grown so big he could sit on it like a chair, and wrote, “How Jaden Smith felt saying ‘bro we can over talk politics? and Economic State of the World Right Now’ to a group of middle school students.’
While Jaden was comfortable talking about the dynamic between him and his parents, he specifically stayed away from discussions about the moment his father slapped Chris Rock at the Academy Awards.
After the shocking attack, Smith resigned from the academy and was subsequently banned from the Academy Awards for 10 years, although he can still be nominated and win awards.
Free choice of his path: Jaden also spoke in the interview about his famous parents and how they never tried to steer him towards a career in show business
No pressure: “There was never that expectation,” he said. “And definitely don’t go into hip-hop; seen with Jada, Willow, Will and Trey Smith on March 27th
Jaden also spoke about his famous parents in the interview and how they never tried to guide him towards a career in show business.
“There was never that expectation,” he said as he followed in Will and Jada’s footsteps. “And definitely not into hip-hop.”
The musician shared that he and his sister Willow used to do spoofs of their mother’s series The Matrix when they were younger.
“I thought all parents made films and I thought everyone made films with their kids, too,” he admitted.
He may have developed his penchant for serious conversations with older people after getting a front row seat at his parents’ business meetings about their upcoming projects.
“They had a meeting about their next movie or something, and they put me at the head of the table and they just let me sit there while they talked, debated with all these people, discussed numbers, all this discussed crazy stuff,” Jaden said .
Word of Warning: His parents nevertheless warned him that other people might expect him to achieve as much as they had throughout their careers; seen with Jada on March 27th
While Will and Jada didn’t set their own expectations for Jaden, they made sure he understood that other people might expect him to achieve as much as they did.
“They made us aware before we even knew from other people that this was an expectation of us. They said, “Hey guys out there in the outside world, they’re going to say that and they’re going to say that you have to live up to our expectations of what we’ve done and what we’ve accomplished in our lives and you have to live with that,” he recalls itself. “So we knew that when we were young.”
That dose of realism mixed with his parents’ encouragement helped inspire confidence in Jaden.
“My parents always told me I could fly. My parents told me I could dig a hole to the nearest side of the earth,” he said. “I always asked them if I could do something, they always said yes.
“You wouldn’t necessarily say, ‘Here it is!'” he clarified. “When it’s time to get the shovel, you get the damn shovel. But they always let me know you could do that.”