WICKED WISDOM Frontwoman Talks About 'Turning Crowds Around' At OZZFEST

Michael Deeds of the KRT News Service recently conducted an interview with WICKED WISDOM frontwoman Jada Pinkett-Smith (actress and wife of actor/rapper Will Smith). A couple of excerpts from the chat follow:

Q: So is this a serious hobby, a career or temporary insanity?

Jada: "(Laughs.) I definitely would love it to be a career. I mean, that's definitely how I'm approaching it. This is something I've always wanted to do, something I've been doing now for about four years. And I'll continue to do it until ... it kills me. (Chuckles.)"

Q: So how did your hubby deal with you touring with Ozzfest and all those hot male groupies?

Jada: "Ah, he loved it! He doesn't care! He thinks it's sexy. Last night, I get off stage, he's, like, 'I like all them guys screaming for you like that.' (Laughs.) It puts a little spark in a marriage, you know? We've been together now for 12 years. Put a little fire in the marriage — you know what I mean? A little hot sauce on it!"

Q: There had to be SOMETHING that happened during Ozzfest that made you go, "Oh my God."

Jada: "You know what? It's so difficult to make me go, 'Oh my God.' You have to remember, I grew up in the hood. I'm the type of chick that's got caught up in crossfire. I've been robbed. To me, I felt like Ozzfest wasn't half as bad as some of the clubs I've been to. It really wasn't what everybody made it out to be.

"The most difficult aspect of it was just being able to turn the crowd around and get them on board. I think that was the most challenging aspect. Here is a person that people know already as one thing and has totally gone to the complete opposite of that. So it was basically about getting people on board to understand I'm not here to mock you ... I'm here to show you a good time, and then show you that I'm serious about this. This is something I love to do."

Q: One thing that probably made fans go "Oh my God" at Ozzfest was your husband showing up on stage.

Jada: "Oh yeah. Well, I tell you what: They might have said, 'Oh my God.' But it was amazing at all those cheers you heard. They loved him out there. You kidding me?

Q: Weren't you worried that he might lose his mind and bust out "Gettin' Jiggy Wit It"?

Jada: "Let me tell you: If he got jiggy wit it, they would have loved it. It's so funny to me, because when he first came, I was, like, 'Wow, I wonder how this particular audience is going to react to Will?' They reacted to Will just like every audience does. They went f---ing crazy! ...Because people love him. I don't know what the phenomenon is. I know why I love him. But you can't take Will to any corner of the Earth and him not get that response. Him being at Ozzfest just solidified that idea for me at every place we went to. And he went out in the audience, and the audience was just so happy to see him there. It was the coolest thing."

Read the entire interview at this location.