“BYE” by Jaden

Like most rappers, Jaden tends to incorporate real-life experiences into his lyrics. The thing about him though is that, unlike any other prominent rapper currently in the game, he actually grew up enjoying a rich, lavish lifestyle, being the son of Will Smith and all.

So let’s take the fourth verse of this lengthy narrative for instance. Here we have the vocalist talking about being in love with a girl who “got six whips in the gate”. What that means, in layman’s terms, is that she lives in a mega-mansion, complete with at least six cars. And in the same verse, he also kinda alludes to his relationship with her being something that happened a bit far back in the past. With most rappers the idea of them having dated a girl back in the day who was filthy rich would be virtually unfathomable. But with Jaden, again we know that he grew up, most simply put, as a Hollywood A lister.

The Story in “BYE”

And it is a bit important to establish that fact because said reality does play a role in the featured story. First and foremost, this is a love song – or as we would classify it on this site, a heartbreak song. And what the title basically represents is the vocalist getting dumped by his significant other. So accordingly he proceeds to go on a five-verse, emo-inspired lyrical lamenting as a result.

But the reason the track is so lengthy is because it contains the complete emotional history of this romance, presuming that the addressee is the same individual throughout. 

It starts in the present, with Jaden missing her considering that, once again, she left him. Then the narrative gradually reveals some past aspects of their association. For instance, we can see that the vocalist felt challenged managing a relationship with her against the glitter of “Hollywood”. 

Moreover the addressee is someone who has experienced romantic disappointments in the past. As such it would appear that she’s more or less content with just chillin’ with Jaden, whereas he rather wants to make their relationship something more serious or long-term. Moreover, as established earlier she is in fact rich.  

And relatedly we would presume Jaden, being close to her mother, even ‘leaves paintings’ in her mom’s house. Apparently he engaged in such acts in the name of favorably impressing the addressee. Also, as theorized earlier, it would appear this was a relationship he first got into somewhere around his mid-teens. 

Additionally it seems that “Strawberry Haze”, i.e. a particular breed of weed, played a role in this relationship or at least in one of the more memorable events from it. Indeed Jaden also mentions tequila earlier in the song, illustrating that intoxicants were normally around he and the addressee. But in that latter regard he references the booze more along the lines of him being unaffected by it as compared to his love for her.

In Conclusion

Yes, there’s usually a lot of information contained in Jaden’s songs. But at the end of the day the story of this one is pretty simple. The character he is portraying is the victim of an unreciprocated love, i.e. having a significant other who, to his chagrin, has moved on with her life. And in the aftermath it is such that he doesn’t even know if she remembers him, so to speak. 

So it’s like apparently, all factors considered, she did go Hollywood on him, thus making it possible that Jaden is referring to a fellow celebrity or at least someone who is just as connected as himself. But ultimately, despite allusions to wealth and what have you, what we have here is a vocalist who is suffering from a broken heart.

Jaden

Jaden’s discography dates back to 2010, when he would have been just 12 years old. And speaking of a privileged childhood the first track he ever participated on, Never Say Never (2010), was as a feature of Justin Bieber’s. 

And whereas throughout the years Jaden has been able to retain his A list status overall, such would not necessarily be a result of his music. That is to say that even though he’s been able to carve out a viable career in this field, hits have been virtually non-existent.  Jaden did impressively reach a peak position of 12 on the Billboard 200 via his sophomore album, Erys (2019). But as far as singles go, the only notable hit he’s really had was 2017’s Icon, a song he also remixed alongside his world-famous dad.

What Jaden is well known for is being sort of a cultural icon. He was not only born rich and famous but also to parents who are very free-minded. And that has allowed him to express his unique views on stages not afforded to the average man, which has resulted in the media becoming fascinated with him and his lil sis, Willow.

In addition to being a musician like his father, Jaden also followed in Will’s footsteps by becoming a Hollywood actor. He was especially active in that regard earlier in the century and has the awards the prove it.  Most of them are good, such as an MTV Movie Award (Breakthrough Performance) for his very first acting role in 2006’s The Pursuit of Happyness and a BET YoungStars Award for starring in 2010’s The Karate Kid. 

But he also has a couple of Golden Raspberries under his belt for his portrayal of “Kitai Raige” in the big-budget sci-fi flick After Earth (2013). And it seems that Jaden took the latter as a sign to move away from acting, as he hasn’t really been active in the field since, aside from starring in a Netflix show called The Get Down (2016) that was cancelled after one season.