25 celebrities you didn’t know had music careers

Jada Pinkett Smith

Jada Pinkett Smith is a talented woman, and she’s married to another actor who has experience in the music industry, so it should come as no surprise that she also has her own musical projects.

In 2002, Jada founded the metal band Wicked Wisdom under the stage name Jada Koren. They released their self-titled debut album in 2006, which received surprisingly favorable reviews. Before even releasing their debut album, though, the band was already garnering a lot of buzz. They landed a coveted slot on Ozzy Osbourne’s Ozzfest festival after his wife Sharon saw the band perform in a small club in Los Angeles in 2005.

Oddly enough, before landing the spot on the Ozzfest lineup, Wicked Wisdom opened for another surprising artist in 2004: Britney Spears. The band was the opening act for the pop superstar’s Onyx Hotel Tour, on the European leg. The Onyx Hotel Tour was one of the year’s most high-profile tours in the music industry, and despite the difference in music styles, Wicked Wisdom got the chance to tour with one of the biggest musical acts in the world.

More recently, the band got back in the recording studio to release a new single. “Stuck” was released in 2013, along with a music video on YouTube. The band will also appear at the Afropunk Brooklyn festival later this summer, so there’s more proof that Wicked Wisdom is here to stay!

While they may not be making a huge mark on the heavy metal community, Jada is passionate and is able to channel more of her creativity into the project. Plus, she’s already rich enough to just keep funding the band’s music as long as she wants to, so that’s fine.