The Stunning Transformation Of Solange Knowles' Son Julez Smith

Being in the spotlight isn't new to Daniel "Julez" Smith Jr. Since the mid-2000s, Julez grew up under notable singer-songwriter Solange Knowles and ex-Caroline Panther, Daniel Smith. Hailing from the highly prestigious Knowles family, Julez grew up with connections to other notable music figures like Solange's sister, Beyoncé Knowles, and Jay-Z. Despite his apparent privilege, Jules was taught core values by his mother Solange, most of which can be credited to her prioritizing motherhood over her music career following his birth. Solange is one of many celebs who made their kids follow strict rules, but this inevitably kept him humble for years to come. To her credit, Solange raised a beautiful boy who grew into an affluent young man. 

Today, Julez has truly come into his own. From his early fascination with professional sports to his ever-growing modeling career, he has shifted away from the kid we were once familiar with to a rising star. Given his dedication to maintaining relationships with his family, ranging from his father to his grandmother, Tina Knowles, it's been clear he grew accustomed to leading a healthy life within the public eye. Although the journey to get there has had its ups and downs, his transformation has been beautiful. To learn more about his growth over the years, here is the stunning transformation of Solange's son, Julez Smith.

Born October 18, 2004, Daniel "Julez" Smith Jr. was Solange Knowles and Daniel Smith's first child. Like so many other celebrities who got married as teenagers, Solange was just 17 years old when she married 19-year-old Smith. Julez's birth came two years after Solange's debut album, "Solo Star," which jumpstarted her solo career at just 16 years old. Marriage and pregnancy at 17 years old surely wasn't an outcome her family had planned for her. While speaking to Vibe magazine in 2012, Solange recalled how confident she felt building a family during this time. "[My family] were alarmed and frightened that their 17-year-old daughter wanted to get married and have a kid, but I'd been working since I was 13. I was making my own money," she stated. "I wasn't really asking permission, and once they found out I was serious about it, they were supportive and amazing."

The support of her family made adjusting to teenage motherhood easier for Solange. She would later reinforce these values, explaining that she devoted herself to being a dedicated mother throughout Julez's early years. "I have been so blessed that my son is the coolest kid ever. Of course, that first year of not sleeping and just being dedicated to him had tough parts ... A lot of people have doubts, but when you have a child I think it takes a really non-emotional person not to have a blast, no matter what age," she told WENN back in 2008 (via People).

Given Julez Smith and his family's background, it'd be safe to assume that he would eventually find his way into the entertainment industry. While some children of megastars oftentimes grow into that role later in life, others like Will Smith's son Jaden Smith or Billy Ray Cyrus' daughter Miley Cyrus usually get their first on-screen gig alongside their parents. Although Julez didn't star in a cult classic movie or multi-season Disney sitcom, he did get the opportunity to be the face of a hip-hop-inspired toy line when he was only 3 years old. 

In 2007, a collection of toys filled with nursery rhymes known as Baby Jamz was released exclusively at Walmart. Since it would be under her father Mathew Knowles' record label, Solange Knowles shared that she had a hand in bringing it to life. "Baby Jamz is a passion project for me inspired by my son, who loves hip-hop music," she told Essence. "I wanted to do a children's album, which I talked about in the media a couple of times. This toy company that wanted to launch an urban toy line reached out to my father about me. I ended up giving them a lot of ideas and became an executive on the account." From the packaging to the visual presentation, 3-year-old Julez acted as the face of the now defunct toy line, making it his first legitimate gig as a public figure. 

As the child of Solange Knowles, Julez Smith had the privilege to lead a life most children could only dream of. Of course, being as young as he was then, Julez couldn't necessarily grasp how successful his family was. However, Solange tried to prevent their fame from getting to Julez's head as a child. "I don't think he realized it in the beginning, but the good thing is that he's humble about it," Solange told Honey Magazine in 2009 (via People). 

Keeping Julez grounded remained a focal point for Solange when it came to her parenting methods. One of the ways she did this was by monitoring his usage of electronics. "I won't let him own a video game. No TV in the bedroom — he can only watch a few hours a day," she said to Honey Magazine. "He comes back and tells me these stories about the [Nintendo] Wii, and I have to be like, 'It's just a Wii, calm down.'" This also reflected his way of life as well. In a 2013 radio station interview, Solange also shared the importance of allowing Julez to live a normal life. She described her strictness on electronics in her household and explained how prioritizing Julez moving to New Orleans helped him remain humble. "He's just around a lot of like sweet, nice, normal kids," she explained to Angie Martinez on Hot 97. And also around a lot of kids who get disciplined."

Aside from getting his first gig in show business when he was only 3 years old, Julez largely kept his distance from the limelight. With his mother Solange Knowles being a megastar in the music industry — not to mention his glamorous aunt Beyoncé and her husband Jay-Z — it was expected for Julez to eventually pursue a music career. Solange, however, would love for Julez to pursue something other than music. "It's certainly not what I have in mind for him," she told Harper's Bazaar in 2014. "I'm constantly trying to push him to work at the U.N. or be a diplomat. I try to convince him by explaining that he wouldn't have to wait in lines at the airport and that he can park anywhere," she joked.

To her credit, it worked for the most part. Instead of channeling all his energy into a music career, Julez experiments with music solely as a hobby. During a 2019 interview, Julez stated that he was an amateur producer. "I don't really think I would take it that far, but you know, as a side job, do that," he told 97.9 The Box. "It's fun, though. I like producing." His affinity for producing quickly development into an interest in rapping. In 2022, Julez shared a song he wrote and produced on TikTok, which quickly garnered public attention from fans and publications alike.

While Julez Smith inherited his love for music from his mother, he inherited his passion for sports from his father, Daniel Smith. The general public assumed that Julez would have an affinity for football, seeing as he is the son of an ex-NFL player. Julez, however, turned his attention to basketball as his sport of choice. In 2019, he confirmed that basketball took up most of his time as a high school student. "That's my life, like, that's all I do: basketball and school," he told 97.9 The Box.

Aside from his dad, Jules drew inspiration from notable NBA legends like LeBron James and Allen Iverson. Julez also had the sport prowess to back up his passion, as evidenced by rare footage of his talents that sporadically saw the light of the day on his father's Instagram and even TikTok fan pages. This inevitably caused fans to question whether Julez would try his hand at an NBA career. Given his other interests, as of 2025, this doesn't seem to be a potential route for Julez. That said, Julez told Vogue in 2024 that his passion for basketball was something he took seriously at one point in his life. "I was really a hooper — I thought I was going to the NBA," he said. 

Over the years, Julez Smith's relationship with his mother, Solange Knowles, and her side of the family have been well-documented.  The vast majority, however, may not have known just how close he is to his father, Daniel Smith. After Solange and Daniel divorced in 2007, the two maintained a cordial relationship for Julez's sake. In 2009, Solange spoke to Honey about being co-parents and explained that, despite their differences in parenting methods, her and Daniel worked well together raising Julez in two separate households (via People). "I feel really good that [Daniel and I are] able to do it together because there are some things that I don't understand," she shared. "And as much as I try to get out there and throw the football, I always get hit in the head with it."

The relationship between Julez and his father flourished after both his parents married their respective partners. Although Daniel's career as a manager for Jay-Z's Roc Nation is a focal point of his Instagram profile, he is known for showcasing his four children every chance he gets. From this, we can see that Julez has remained close to the paternal side of his family. Daniel also demonstrated their strong relationship when he penned a heartfelt caption on Instagram in 2024 to celebrate Julez's 20th birthday. "Happy birthday to my firstborn ... I love you son, now let's party," he wrote. Julez replied to the post, commenting, "Love you, pops." 

Whether it be due to his mother's disciplinary methods in teaching him humility or a desire to remain out of the public eye, Julez Smith has largely remained out of the spotlight. Aside from his hobbies, Julez typically keeps detailed information about his personal life a mystery — that is, until a secret romance between him and a former child star came to light through social media. 

In 2021, Julez leaked his own text messages on Instagram that revealed he had a romantic relationship with former "Jessie" star, Skai Jackson. Jackson has undergone a stunning transformation of her own since her TV days, but the Disney alum is not free from scandal. In now-deleted screenshots of messages sent by 16-year-old Julez to his friends, Julez accused Skai — who was 18 years old at the time — of cheating on him. Julez later alleged that he had cheated on her as well. Aside from the screenshots, this would be the first time that information about their relationship went public. The two, however, seemingly broke up and moved on — but not without drawing online attention. Although Julez didn't necessarily confirm whether he and Skai were in a relationship prior to dropping the cheating allegations, he did speak on where he stood with the former Disney star. During a now-deleted Q&A segment on Instagram, one of his followers asked if he was still friends with Skai, to which he responded, "F*** no."

Despite any attempts to keep his personal life private, Julez Smith wouldn't remain completely scandal-free throughout 2022. Soon after his alleged relationship with Skai Jackson came to the surface — albeit in an unfortunate way — Julez had another relationship that captured his follower's attention. In April 2022, a series of texts between him and an OnlyFans personality known as Adore found their way online, eluding to the two wanting to have a baby together. As more of the messages were revealed, fans speculated that Adore was intentional about wanting to get pregnant. Although Julez's messages read as if he was completely behind the idea, Julez later told Adore that making this decision made her "so much less attractive" (via Hot New Hip-Hop).

Following the string of alleged messages, fans wondered if Julez would join the list of fellow child stars who had babies when they were just kids. Some fans even drew parallels between Julez and his mother, who decided to become a teenage mom. Unlike his prior scandal, however, Julez debunked these rumors after the story was picked up by several publications. In a now-deleted Instagram post, Julez shared screenshots of his exchange with Adore pleading with Julez to tell the public that they are not planning on becoming parents. "Now usually I wouldn't speak on this type of stuff but this time I'm not going to let y'all drag my family for something that is fabricated," he said. "This text was from today, she wants y'all to know it's fake."

Julez Smith's personal life often becomes a focal point for social media users, despite his attempts to de-escalate rumors. With scandals ranging from infidelity to teenage pregnancy, one would assume that would be the end of Julez's unwarranted push into the limelight. However, this is a difficult task when your mother is Solange Knowles. Solange has maintained relative privacy over the years — as private as the celeb lifestyle allows, anyway — but she is always prepared to fire back at social media users who have anything harsh to say about her son. One such example occurred in 2015, when an Instagram user called 11-year-old Julez "ugly" in the comments after Solange posted a photo of her son wearing a red jumpsuit. "Jussst as I thought it was safe to share pictures again, a young'n like you decided to use her time to spread ugliness," she replied (via Daily Mail).

As Solange and Julez subsequently became more private about their personal life, users on X, formerly known as Twitter, began to suggest that Solange effectively abandoned her son. While Solange remained quiet on the matter — only liking tweets that criticized the prying and intrusive nature of fans — Julez issued a subtle response that finally put those rumors to rest. In 2023, Julez took to his Instagram Stories and posted a screenshot of Master P's song "Mama Raised Me." He'd later follow up with a photo of his mother, which he captioned, "My whole heart!"

Julez Smith earned his first modeling gig at 3 years old, so it's not much of a surprise to see him pursue modeling as a professional career. His ventures into music and sports didn't quite pan out the way many had assumed. Instead, Julez dove headfirst into modeling in 2024, booking as many gigs as he possibly could. His first major opportunity came in February of that year when Julez made his runway debut for Luar during New York Fashion Week. With his family in attendance — ranging from Tina to Beyoncé Knowles — Julez's first foray into fashion proved to be a success. Following the event, he'd pen a lengthy post on Instagram thanking everyone for their support and promising that there was "much more to come."

As he grew into the role, Jules would work for other companies such as Off-White and Coach. Another notable collaboration took place in 2024, when he publicly shared his modeling aspirations for the first time. When asked about what made him decide to become a model, Julez revealed it was long overdue, as it was a passion of his for a while. "I've been wanting to model for a couple of years, it just never really worked out," he told Vogue. "Luar was really my breakthrough. I was actually interning with them for a couple of months, and maybe like a week before the show they were just like, 'Come to the casting.' So I went to the casting and I got it."