Business Of Hype: Jaden Smith

Business of HYPE is a weekly series brought to you by HYPEBEAST Radio and hosted by jeffstaple. It’s a show about creatives, brand-builders and entrepreneurs and the realities behind the dreams they’ve built. On this week’s episode, Jeff sits down with the multifaceted Jaden Smith at a live recorded event.

To only associate Jaden Smith with his parents, Will and Jada, would be downplaying the massive career he’s built. At only 20, he stands as a cultural icon who’s gained a following for his acting, modeling, music, clothing and humanitarian efforts.

He started his career at a young age, starring in movies such as The Pursuit of Happyness to The Karate Kid. He then moved onto launching his own clothing brand MSFTSrep — an idea he says that was inspired by the lack black drop-crotch pants on the market. Since then he’s dropped his debut album, SYRE, which garnered 100 million streams and has been involved in resolving various socioeconomic issues, such as fundraising for clean water.

On this episode of BoH, Jaden gives insight to his creative processes and inspirations behind his career moves. He says that what inspires him the most are “all the problems in the world.”  While the young polymath may be idolized as a gender-binding fashion force and entertainment phenom, he hopes to utilize his platform to create more solutions whether it be giving young creatives more jobs or reducing plastic.

“People feeling uninspired and not feeling like they can really create, that’s what inspires me to just get out there. It makes me want to create opportunities for people. I’m just trying to amass a group of creative individuals. I’m just trying to evolve the conscious of humanity and make people think more so out of the box. What really inspires me are all the problems in the world.”

Furthermore, Jaden shares his stance on education systems, environmental problems, and societal pressures. He stresses his desire to build a school that provides sustainability unlike modern day schools — which he compared to that of the industrial revolution. For him, the end goal isn’t to make a hit album or star in a blockbuster movie, but in creating solutions that can make the world a better place.

“I don’t want to just be like, ‘Oh, I feel like in my own self, I did something past my parents.’ If that’s my goal, once I reach it, I’m going to be like, ‘I got to my goal. I’m done.’ But that’s not my goal. I want to do better for the whole world.”

While some may say celebrity children live in the shadows of their parents, it is clear Jaden has no problem paving his own path. So listen in to hear the jack of all trades share his vision, passion, and future ideas.

This episode features references to the following:

2:42 – SYRE
2:52 – Will Smith‘s social media
4:45 – Jaden Smith movies
5:04 - ”Icon” music video
5:51 – Casting for movies
9:07 – Training for movies
10:07 – Neo Yokio
12:40 – MSFTSrep
13:58 – Momo, designer for MSFTSrep
17:04 – Louis Vuitton shoes
17:17 – New Balance
17:41 – Creative process for fashion & music
17:51 – Creative process for movies
19:03 – Modeling
20:26 – Kanye West
21:26 – Elon Musk, Steve Jobs, Walt Disney
21:49 – Fresh Prince
22:16 – Critique on schooling system
23:27 – Industrial Revolution
26:00 – Motivation
27:47 – Space Travel
28:06 – Expectations
29:32 – Environmental concerns
33:25 – Q&A