Billboard’s Greatest Pop Stars

第一位：Comeback Artist of the Year — Willow

For this year’s update of our ongoing Greatest Pop Star by Year project, Billboard is counting down their staff picks for the top 10 pop stars of 2021 all this week and next. First, a salute to the artist who made the most impressive comeback this year: critically acclaimed pop-punk hitmaker Willow.
为了今年我们正在进行的年度最佳流行歌星项目的更新，公告牌本周和下周都在倒计时2021年前10名流行歌星的员工选择。首先，向今年卷土重来最令人印象深刻的艺术家致敬：广受好评的流行朋克热门人物Willow。（机翻）

After a brief turn in the mainstream as a child star, Willow Smith found a dedicated cult following during the 2010s, thanks to enduring streaming hits such as “Wait a Minute!,” from her 2015 debut album Ardipithecus. Despite her strong following, the L.A. native hadn’t seen major crossover success since the release of her debut single, the pop-rap track “Whip My Hair,” which peaked at No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 in November 2010.
作为一名儿童明星，Willow Smith在主流中短暂转折，由于2015年首张专辑Ardipithecus的持久流媒体热门歌曲，Willow Smith在2010年代找到了忠实的邪教追随者。尽管这位洛杉矶本地人追随者很强，但自从她的首张单曲《鞭打我的头发》发行以来，她从未取得重大跨界成功，该单曲于2010年11月在公告牌热门100上排名第11位。

However, 2021 is the year Willow truly cemented herself as a fully-grown artist with front-and-center staying power, a narrative befitting of someone who officially entered legal adulthood in October. After years of toying with psychedelic R&B, neo-soul and sassy pop, followed by a brief hiatus from music to focus on herself and her side endeavors, the adventurous singer was given a nudge to foray into an edgier lane by her mother, actress and frontwoman of the nu-metal band Wicked Wisdom, Jada Pinkett-Smith. (“I think that seeing my mom on stage and how she commanded the music and the band just made me realize that’s what I want to be,” Willow said in an interview with V Magazine. “I want to be that strong woman who is putting it all out there on the stage.”)
然而，2021年是Willow真正巩固自己作为一名拥有中前锋和中持久力的成熟艺术家的一年，这种叙事适合10月份正式进入合法成年的人。在玩弄迷幻R&B、新灵魂和时髦流行音乐多年后，这位冒险歌手的母亲、女演员和数字金属乐队Wicked Wisdom的主唱Jada Pinkett-Smith用肘轻轻地涉足了音乐，专注于自己和她的副手。Willow在接受《V》杂志采访时说：“我认为看到我妈妈在舞台上以及她如何指挥音乐和乐队只是让我意识到这就是我想要成为的。”“我想成为那个把一切都放在舞台上的坚强女人。”）

With Blink-182 drummer/producer Travis Barker playing a key role in her change of direction, Willow reintroduced herself in April with the ferocious pop-punk single “Transparentsoul.” Despite being relatively new to the rock side of popular music, Willow has long prided herself a rebellious spirit, making this artistic shift feel appropriate. (She shaved her head as an 11-year-old, somewhat ironically, in protest of continuing her 2012 Whip My Hair tour.)
随着Blink-182鼓手/制片人Travis Barker在改变方向方面发挥了关键作用，Willow于4月以凶猛的流行朋克单曲《透明的灵魂》重新介绍了自己。尽管Willow对流行音乐的摇滚方面相对较新，但他长期以来一直为自己叛逆的精神感到自豪，这使得这种艺术转变感觉很合适。（她11岁时剃光了头，有点讽刺意味，以抗议她继续2012年的鞭打我的头发之旅。）

“Transparentsoul” became the singer’s first entry on the Hot 100 in 10 years, peaking at No. 76 in July. It also introduced her to Billboard’s Rock and Alternative charts – including a No. 2 spot on the Rock Streaming Songs chart – and was certified Gold in September. The release of “Transparentsoul” couldn’t have come at a better time, as it fit right in with the massive wave of successful pop-punk-leaning songs released in 2020 and 2021 by acts like Machine Gun Kelly, Yungblud, and Olivia Rodrigo.
透明灵魂”成为这位歌手10年来在热门100强中的第一个参赛作品，在7月达到第76位的峰值。它还向她介绍了公告牌的摇滚和另类排行榜——包括摇滚歌曲排行榜上的第2名——并于9月获得金牌认证。《透明灵魂》的发行恰到好处，因为它恰到2020年和2021年由机关枪凯利、Yungblud和Olivia Rodrigo等演员发布的一波成功的流行朋克歌曲浪潮恰到好处。

A proper album quickly followed the electric single: Lately I Feel Everything was released in July 2021, featuring elements traversing the gamut of alternative rock – pop-punk of course, but also grunge and indie. Not only is Barker a featured drummer on a number of tracks, pop-punk foremother Avril Lavigne accompanies Willow on the introspective, guitar-heavy “Grow,” while rockers Cherry Glazerr and Ayla Tesler-Mabe and rapper Tierra Whack were also noteworthy voices found on the energetic 11-song project.
一张合适的专辑紧随了电子单曲之后：最近，我感觉一切都在2021年7月发行，其中的元素遍及了另类摇滚的方方面面——当然是流行朋克，但也包括垃圾和独立摇滚。Barker不仅是许多曲目中的特色鼓手，流行朋克前身Avril Lavigne还陪同Willow演奏了内省、吉他重的“Grow”，而摇滚歌手Cherry Glazerr和Ayla Tesler-Mabe以及说唱歌手Tierra Whack也是在充满活力的11首歌曲项目中发现的值得注意的声音。

The effort peaked at No. 46 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, and received positive reviews from critics, with many publications praising Willow’s spirited preservation of pop-punk, from her emotive delivery to the blaring, angsty instrumentation. It’s since been named to a number of year-end lists of the best albums by NPR Music, Complex, Uproxx and Billboard. “[Lately I Feel Everything] was me coming to a point where I just said ‘eff it’ and wanted to have fun,” she told Billboard earlier this year. “This album is the most I’ve let myself loose.”
这一努力在公告牌200张专辑排行榜上达到第46位，并得到了评论家的积极评价，许多出版物赞扬Willow对流行朋克的热情保护，从她情绪化的演讲到响亮、焦虑的乐器。此后，它被NPR Music、Complex、Uproxx和Billboard评为许多年终最佳专辑名单。今年早些时候，她在接受公告牌采访时表示：“（（我感觉一切）是我刚刚说‘说出来’并想玩得开心的地步。”“这张专辑是我放过最多的专辑。”

In May, after the release of “Transparent Soul,” Willow was announced as one of the supporting acts for Billie Eilish’s Happier Than Ever World Tour during select shows in February and April 2022. The on-tour pairing of two young women who are praised for rewriting the traditional rules of music, culture and femininity couldn’t have been made for a better fit – and shortly after, Willow announced her own national headlining tour, titled “LIFE.” But even with the positive response to Lately I Feel Everything and its lead single, it certainly came as a surprise that her most successful single since her pre-teen pop days would be with a song that entirely predated her new punk era.
5月，在《透明灵魂》发行后，Willow在2022年2月和4月的精选节目中被宣布为Billie Eilish的《比以往任何时候都更幸福的世界巡回演唱会》的配角之一。两位年轻女性因重写音乐、文化和女性的传统规则而受到赞扬，这是再合适不过的——不久后，Willow宣布了自己的全国头条新闻之旅，名为“生活”。但即使对《最近我感觉一切》及其主打单曲做出了积极回应，她自青少年流行音乐时代以来最成功的单曲肯定令人惊讶的是，一首完全早于她新朋克时代的歌曲。

The ANXIETY, Willow’s collaboration project with close friend and producer Tyler Cole, was released quietly in March 2020, without making much of an initial chart impact. However, during a September promo run for her then-forthcoming Life Tour to support Lately I Feel Everything, the duo performed a live version of “Meet Me at Our Spot,” an indie-leaning, mid-tempo track found on THE ANXIETY which pertains to escaping internal fears in order to “catch a vibe” with that special someone.
Willow与密友兼制片人Tyler Cole的合作项目《焦虑》于2020年3月悄然发布，没有对图表产生太大影响。然而，在她即将举行的9月份为支持《最近我感觉一切》的生活之旅进行促销中，两人表演了现场版的《在我们的现场见我》，这是一首在《焦虑》上找到的独立倾向的中速曲目，涉及逃离内心恐惧，以便与那个特别的人“捕捉氛围”。

After the performance, the song found new legs by going viral on TikTok, becoming a sleeper hit bigger than anyone could have anticipated. “Meet Me at Our Spot” peaked at No. 21 on the Hot 100 in November 2021, making it Willow’s most-successful song since “Whip My Hair.”
演出结束后，这首歌在抖音上疯传，找到了新的腿，成为比任何人想象的都要大的沉睡者。2021年11月，《在我们的现场见我》在热门100强中排名第21位，使其成为Willow自《Whip My Hair》以来最成功的歌曲。

Through her insistence on playing by her own rules (and to her own strengths), Willow successfully launched one of the most powerful re-emergences of the past few years, closing out the calendar year as one of the leading voices in contemporary alternative music. Her accomplishments in these genres are crucial, as her very presence disrupts the stereotypical aesthetic of mainstream rock and punk stars.
Willow坚持按照自己的规则（和自己的优势）演奏，成功地发起了过去几年最强大的重新出现之一，结束了日历年，成为当代另类音乐的主要声音之一。她在这些流派中的成就至关重要，因为她的存在打破了主流摇滚和朋克明星的刻板美学。

Particularly during the ‘90s and early-’00s, cis, white, heterosexual men have prevailed as pop-punk’s most prominent representatives. While people of color performing pop-punk is nothing new (such as early-’00s act Fefe Dobson and current pop-punk band Meet Me at the Altar), inclusion in the scene allows for greater accessibility, and Willow’s visibility in particular showcases the growth this style of music has undergone. (Plus, there’s no better outlet than rock music to let out the frustrations that may come with navigating growing up during a pandemic, no less as a Black woman.)
特别是在90年代和00年代初，顺式、白人、异性恋男性作为流行朋克最著名的代表占了上风。虽然有色人种表演流行朋克并不新鲜（如00年代初的表演Fefe Dobson和当前的流行朋克乐队Meet Me at the Altar），但场景的包容性允许更大的可访问性，Willow的可见性尤其展示了这种音乐风格的发展。（此外，没有比摇滚音乐更好的出路来释放疫情期间在成长过程中可能带来的挫折感，就像一个黑人女性一样。）

While she’s always appeared to be an advocate of creating whatever art makes her soul soar, Willow’s full-out ownership and acceptance of her authenticity is what makes her comeback that much sweeter. “I can see myself diving deeper and refining my musicianship,” Willow said in a recent NME interview. “Through refining my musicianship, I can execute new genres authentically and with quality. That’s really where I’m trying to be.”
虽然她似乎一直倡导创造任何艺术让她的灵魂飞翔的东西，但Willow对她真实性的完全所有权和接受让她的复出变得如此甜蜜。Willow在最近的NME采访中说：“我可以看到自己跳得更深，正在完善我的音乐生涯。”“通过完善我的音乐才能，我可以真实、高质量地执行新流派。这就是我真正想去的地方。”