Willow Smith will be a ‘superstar’ says Jay-Z

David Beckham and Snoop Dogg may be talking about getting their children together to produce their first rap song but they have been beaten to it by Will Smith's daughter Willow. The nine-year-old has just released her first hip-hop single and signed up with Jay-Z's recording label Roc Nation.

Yesterday, within a day of being released, Willow's song Whip My Hair had been viewed more than 100,000 times on YouTube.

Even more impressively, she has been compared to a young Michael Jackson by Jay-Z, one of the most influential artists in the American music industry.

The rapper and record producer said in an interview yesterday that he had been won over by the single before he even knew who had recorded it.  

Jay-Z - who also turned Rihanna into an international star when he signed her - told the US radio host Ryan Seacrest on Thursday: "I heard the record first before I knew that it was recorded by a nine-year-old, and I was like 'man, that record's a smash'. I was told that [the singer] was nine and I was like 'Whoa'."

On finding out she was Will Smith's daughter, Jay-Z "was like 'Whoa, whoa!'". Willow had a "superstar" career ahead of her, he added.

Earlier this year there was concern when the entire Smith family came to Europe to promote 12-year-old Jaden's movie The Karate Kid. While Jaden was the film's star, his parents - the film's producers - appeared to be happy to thrust Willow into the limelight at every opportunity as part of a seemingly desperate promotional strategy.

Yesterday, however, Jay-Z brushed aside any suggestion that Willow may be too young to launch a music career, saying she had a "maturity" to her years. He added: "When you have that sort of talent, there is no such thing as too young." ·