Willow Smith has always set herself apart from the Gen-Z pack and even her own famous family.

In a new interview with The Guardian on Saturday (Sept. 17), the youngest Smith family member reflected on how she had always been a rebel, including when she shaved her hair in protest of her father, Will Smith. During the peak of her solo career stemming from her breakout hit, “Whip My Hair,” Willow, only 10 years old, wanted to leave her European tour. However, her father told her that she had an obligation to fulfill.

“I felt like I had no control,” Willow expressed. “That was the part that wasn’t cool for me. I felt so powerless. But because I was so young, I didn’t have enough experience for people to trust my opinions. So I just said, ‘I can’t do this.'”

Will spoke in-depth about Willow’s hair shave in his memoir, “Will by Will Smith,” published in 2021. “Willow came skipping into the kitchen for breakfast. ‘Good morning, Daddy,’ she said joyfully as she bounced to the refrigerator. My jaw nearly dislocated, dislodged, and shattered on the kitchen floor: My world-dominating, hair-whipping, future global superstar was totally bald,” he said. “During the night, Willow had shaved her entire head. My mind raced – how was she going to whip her hair if she didn’t have any? Who the hell wants to pay to watch some kid whip their head back and forth?”

Willow shared that after that experience, she spent the next three years being a kid and going to school, a time that she described as “really nice.” However, she soon realized she missed performing and singing; she just wanted control over her career. “And I came to realize I love performing and recording. I just wanted to be steering my own ship,” she stated.

Last month, the rock star announced her fifth studio album,<COPINGMECHANISM>, set to release on Sept. 23. The project, which follows up last year’s Lately I Feel Everything, will feature the newly released single “Hover Like A Goddess.”