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"The only way to change something is to shock it. If you want your muscles to grow, you have to shock them. If you want society to change, you have to shock them."  Jaden Smith is the famous hyphenate son of Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith. Known as much for his odd philosophical musings as his work in the entertainment field, Jaden has become something of a divisive figure. Having said that, it is impossible to argue against Jaden's burgeoning career.

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Jaden Smith followed his parent's footsteps into the world of acting. Jaden made his first major acting splash in The Pursuit of Happyness (2006) alongside his father. A few years later, Jaden would be all over Hollywood with several high-profile roles. While his success as an actor has been met with mixed reviews, Jaden has already begun to cultivate a successful following as a musician. Jaden has released numerous records, collaborated with high-profile rappers like Childish Gambino, and he's even made a name for himself as a philanthropist.

While Jaden Smith is obviously a young and divisive figure, it is hard to argue that he isn't successful. Let's leap into our time machine to see how Jaden became the man that he is today.

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Welcome to Earth, Jaden

Jaden Smith was born on July 8, 1998, in Malibu, California. Jaden's father, Will Smith, is one of the most famous actors in pop-culture history. Jaden and Will have worked on numerous projects together and their public relationship is revered for being both amicable and entertaining. Jaden's mother is Jada Pinkett Smith, a famous entertainer, singer, and entrepreneur. Jaden has two siblings, sister Willow Smith and a half-brother named Trey Smith.

Born into such a famous family, Jaden Smith was thrust under the spotlight from an early age. He attended the New Village Leadership Academy before transitioning to homeschooling. During his childhood, Jaden was typically isolated from people his own age. As a result, Jaden struggled to make friends and this would turn him into something of an introvert. Jaden turned to skateboarding in order to have a healthy escape where he could blend in with the crowd.

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Will and Jada both wanted their children to have a regular life. As a result, Jaden and his siblings would spend numerous hours working for charity, donating their time to philanthropic endeavors, and even working inside of nursing homes. Jada says of her children, "I wanted them to see the reality of life and have a normal experience of having to stand in line and get tickets." Jada and Willow would also become ambassadors for Project Zambi, in cooperation with Hasbro. Project Zambi was created to assist Zambian children who had lost their parents due to the ongoing AIDS epidemic in the country.

While Jaden Smith was steered toward a normal life, there is only so much normal allowed for the acting son of Will Smith. By the time that Jaden was six-years-old, he was already growing into an international star.

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Following His Father's Footsteps

While Jaden Smith struggled to connect with regular kids his age, he was quick to take to the world of acting. Following his father's footsteps, Jaden would make his major acting debut in the 2006 film, The Pursuit of Happyness. Jaden played the son of Chris Gardner, a character portrayed by his father, Will Smith. Jaden would land the Breakthrough Performance award at the 2007 Movie Awards. From there, Jaden would go on to appear in The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008) and The Karate Kid (2010) reboot, alongside Jackie Chan. Smith intensely trained martial arts in order to make the role believable. His work on the film would help to launch Jaden to the next level of his career. It was around this time that Jaden began to separate his work from his family in an attempt to make the most of his own skills.

Outside of the world of acting, Jaden has become one of the most enterprising young musicians in the industry. Smith would make his major music debut in 2010 when he featured on the Justin Bieber song, 'Never Say Never'. The song would hit 5x Platinum in the United States while hitting #8 on the Billboard Hot 100. A short while after that, Jaden would drop his first mixtape, The Cool Cafe. The record was unpolished but showed promise, with critics praising Jaden for his attempts at trying something new. 

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Now fully immersed in the world of music, Jaden would turn toward producing his debut record in 2014. The album would take three years to complete and it would end up being released in November 2016 under the title, Syre. The album would feature several singles, including 'Fallen', 'Batman', and 'Icon'. The record would land at #24 on the Billboard 200. 'Icon' would become Jaden's breakthrough single, and it would serve as a launching point for Jaden's next record. Smith would go on to release his sophomore record, Erys, in 2017 with a special project known as Syre: The Electric Album following shortly thereafter. In 2018, Jaden Smith would get the biggest pop of his young music career when he was added as J. Cole's opener for the KOD Tour. The tour also featured EarthGang and Young Thug.  

Jaden states that he was heavily influenced by the works of Kurt Kobain, Will Smith, Tyco, and Kanye West. Jaden is also quick to praise his father for creating a blueprint that Jaden could follow. Jaden says of his farther's work, "I look at him and use it as a blueprint of how good of a person he is, but not necessarily the success that he reached."

Outside of music and film, Jaden Smith has become something of an enterprising young entrepreneur. Jaden is a high-profile social media star with millions of followers across his various platforms. Jaden has become something of a meme for his often conspiratorial statements. Jaden has leaned into his newfound conspiracy theorist label and often can be found discussing aliens, the Illuminati, and even chemtrails on his various social media outlets.

Jaden has also collaborated with several fashion labels, including his brand, MSFTSrep. The fashion brand features vests, pants, shirts, and hoodies. Smith has also worked with the famous Korean designer, Choi Bum Suk. The two worked together to create a series of pop-up stores with custom logos on the material. Smith would also make headlines for appearing in a 2016 womenswear campaign for the famous brand, Louis Vuitton. Smith decided to wear feminine clothing for the entire year after the shoot saying, "In five years, when a kid goes to school wearing a skirt, he won't get beat up and kids won't get mad at him."  Jaden Smith is also a business partner for the spring water business, Just Water. The goal of the company is to create a cheap water filtration system that can be implemented in poor nations around the world.

Most recently, Jaden Smith appeared in the hit Netflix show, The Get Down (2016) as Marcus 'Dizzee' Kipling. Smith is also a voice actor on the animated kids' series, Neo Yokio (2017).