While nepotism babies typically try to separate their own art from their parents’, Brandy’s daughter, Sy’Rai Smith, loves the constant comparison.
While promoting MTV’s new show “Family Legacy,” the 20-year-old recently had a chat with BET.com to discuss her upcoming projects and how she handles the high expectations that are often placed on her.
Noting that there is always heavy pressure on her due to her mother’s high-profile status in the industry, Smith says she is using the hearsay as a way to “prove people right.”
“Everyone says I sing like her and I look like her, which is something I love,” said Smith. “I love to prove people right and show them I do sound like her and look like her.”
“It’s hard for people not to compare us,” she continued. “I wouldn’t want to be compared to anybody else.”
Related: Sy’Rai Smith Opens Up About the Pressure to Measure Up to Her Mother, Brandy’s, Singing Career
Though the “Nothing Without You” vocalist isn’t offended by the comparison, Smith suggested it can be challenging to pave her own way after being known as “Brandy’s daughter” for all of her life.
“It can be difficult for people to differentiate us,” said Smith, “because I’ve always been known as Brandy’s daughter, so to create a persona for myself and not be tied to her may be a bit difficult.”
While Smith is set on creating her own musical pathway, she isn’t completely cutting herself off from her mother’s expertise in music. She admitted that learning from Brandy’s work ethic helped form her own personal sound.
“I’ve seen my mom in the studio all my life,” said Smith, “and I’m a perfectionist like her, so it has to sound correct. I stack like crazy — a lot of melodic, driven music because I love melodies. I have that Brandy sound that people try and get — I can do it and it’s in my genes to be like her.”
The young entertainer also revealed that there’s a possibility she may recreate Brandy’s 1998 duet with singer Monica, “The Boy Is Mine.”
“There was talk about me doing ‘The Boy Is Mine’ with another artist, so we’re still trying to piece that together,” she shared.
In 2021, Smith recreated the song’s music video on TikTok, leaving fans shocked at her striking resemblance to her mother.
Fans can expect Smith’s debut EP to drop sometime in May, and according to the star, her mother executively and vocally produced the entire project.
