Jaden Smith’s Louboutin Debut Copies His Influences

The lesson from Jaden Smith’s music career is that — even with only small amounts of talent — a remarkably well-funded nepo baby can end up putting out compelling work. All you need is an almost unlimited hose of cash, and connections to the best producers in the business. His debut album “SYRE” was overly long, deeply indulgent, and almost impressively unoriginal — but also fun, well-produced, and with some highlights. Even the faintest fan of Kanye West could tell that the young Mr. Smith was just copying the Louis Vuitton Don, but Mr. West is — or was — an incredible musician, and gathering some of the world’s best producers to make a Kanye cover album turned out to produce some fun songs. The opening four-parter is comically over-the-top, but it also sounds fantastic, and I’ve listened to it more times than many more original records. That album’s hit single, “Icon,” features some spectacularly stupid lyrics, but it remains a head-banging, catchy pop record that I listen to regularly while working out.