As easy as it is to make fun of Jaden Smith, from his cryptic tweets to his bizarre interview with his sister Willow, his mixtapes are fire. Releasing Cool Tape Vol 2, a sequel to 2012’s The Cool Cafe: Cool Tape Vol. 1, mid-November, it was my first time listening to him, and was hooked immediately. Smith has been in the limelight since birth, as being the son of power celebrity couple Will and Jada Pinkett Smith inevitably leads to fame. Ever since then, he’s gained an online reputation for tweeting really strange things, from “how can mirrors be real if our eyes aren’t real” to “you can discover everything you need to know about everything by looking at your hands.” Willow has joined in on the bizarre activity too, stating how she can make time move any way she wants and how much she and her brother believe in prana energy. As ridiculous and weird as it can sound, I actually really admire them for discovering their own interests and being themselves no matter how much the public eye is on them.

I didn’t intend to, but when I saw one of the songs off of it, “PCH,” on my Tumblr dashboard, I was tempted to have a listen. It’s a cool, calm track with catchy lyrics that are reminiscent of its content, driving down a highway. It’s easily one of my favorite songs off of the mixtape, and it prompted me to download it ASAP. Many of the songs feature Willow Smith, who has a beautiful voice and adds a lot of depth to the music. The rest of the mixtape includes tracks that surprisingly, don’t all sound the same. There’s actually diversity present in the selection of songs, from aggressive to some reminiscent of a 90s slow jam. I was really impressed with the production of the whole thing, but I shouldn’t be because Smith obviously has some very good connections. Regardless, the beats work well with his words, and the integration of Willow’s vocals turn it into an easy blend that’s easy to listen to regardless of where the listener is. The transitions are ridiculously smooth, and made me fall in love with the whole thing.

Even though he may have professional producers, a great deal of what Smith also has to possess is pure talent, and he’s proved himself. Willow has as well, and I’m happy that they have the confidence to unapologetically be themselves and express themselves in this way. They can be role models for this generation, and even though they’re a bit precocious, they’re still finding themselves and experimenting, and with a great result like this, that’s more than many chart-topping artists can say today. This release excites me for any future releases from Smith, and especially because he can only improve from here.

This mixtape never left me bored, especially with the big, full of fire tracks like “Young & Reckless” and “Fire” to spice things up and not make the whole tape too heavy with emotional, calm songs like “Let it Breathe” and “PCH.” This mixtape not only shows how versatile Smith can be, but also how he can be taken seriously as an emerging artist, which is a reputation hard to acquire due to his internet presence and his age. I didn’t quite take him seriously before listening, but now I really admire his creativity and ability to work hard to achieve an awesome result that he can be proud of, especially since this isn’t his first release. It’s also something that’s not like every other album or mixtape out there, it’s catchy not only with its beats but its lyrics, with meaning behind each song, regardless of the tempo. I give this mixtape 4 out of 5 stars.