North West

Lore & Background

North West was born on June 15, 2013, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles to Kanye West and Kim Kardashian. At the moment of birth, Kanye was DJing, and North was born while "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen played. Her due date was July 12, 2013, which would have been the 64th birthday of Kanye's mother Donda West, and her early delivery meant she spent time in an incubator. CBS News described her and Prince George of Wales as the two most famous babies in the world.

Kim told GQ that she and Kanye picked the name North after it was recommended by Pharrell Williams and Anna Wintour. In January 2020, she used a video uploaded to Kylie's YouTube account to state that the name North grew on her after Jay Leno jokingly suggested it while she was appearing on his talk show. West was baptised in the Armenian Apostolic Church at the Cathedral of Saint James in Jerusalem in April 2015 during a tour of the Middle East, and attended Sierra Canyon School, which had previously been attended by Kendall and Kylie Jenner.

Growing up, she was involved in a number of her parents' ventures. In April 2016, Kardashian used an episode of her sister's chat show Kocktails with Khloé to note that North had flushed an iPhone containing an early draft of Kanye's album The Life of Pablo down the toilet, leading Kanye to have to re-record it from scratch.

Reader's Guide

North West's career began with appearances in her father's music video for "Only One" in January 2015 and on Keeping Up with the Kardashians. Her film debut came in September 2023 when she voiced Mini in Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie alongside her mother Kim and brother Saint. In February 2024, she made her recording debut on ¥$'s single "Talking / Once Again," which peaked at number 30 on the Billboard Hot 100. She co-directed and wrote scenes for the song's second music video.

In May 2024, she performed "I Just Can't Wait to Be King" at the Hollywood Bowl. In August 2024, she appeared on ¥$'s track "Bomb" alongside her sister Chicago, rapping in Japanese. In October 2024, she was interviewed by Interview, where she discussed Christianity and Japan. In January 2025, she contributed a rap in Japanese to "Childlike Things" from FKA Twigs's album Eusexua.

In March 2025, she featured on "Lonely Roads Still Go to Sunshine," a track Kanye uploaded to Twitter. She previewed her first solo single "Piercing on My Hand" at Kanye's Mexico City performance on January 30, 2026, and released her debut EP N0rth4evr on May 1, 2026, through Gamma.

Breakthrough Performances in Film and Music

In January 2015, North appeared in the music video for Kanye's "Only One." In September 2023, North, Saint, and Kim voiced Mini, Meteor Max, and Delores in Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie. In February 2024, Kanye West released a video for "Talking / Once Again," a single by ¥$ that included a guest verse from North; upon release later that month as part of the group's album Vultures 1, North's contribution was noted by NME as a rare highlight. Later that month, the song peaked at number 30 on the Billboard Hot 100, and she performed it at Accor Arena.

On March 10, West announced her debut album Elementary School Dropout at a performance in Arizona. In April 2024, ¥$ uploaded a second music video for "Talking," which had been co-directed and written by North. In May 2024, she performed "I Just Can't Wait to Be King" at the Hollywood Bowl's The Lion King 30th Anniversary – A Live-to-Film Concert Event, outfitted by ERL Clothing. Her performance was praised by Jason Weaver, who provided the singing voice for that film's cub Simba; however, some social media commentators felt that West had only been hired due to her parents' fame. Her role was later defended by Kim on an episode of The Kardashians.

Artistic Evolution and Linguistic Ventures

In August 2024, North and her sister Chicago were featured on the track "Bomb" from ¥$'s album Vultures 2, in which North rapped in Japanese. That October, she was interviewed by Interview, where she discussed Christianity and Japan. West contributed a rap in Japanese to "Childlike Things" from FKA Twigs's January 2025 album Eusexua. In a March 2025 video uploaded to Instagram, Twigs stated that she was inspired to include a child on the track as it used lyrics she had written when she was 12 or 13 and that she was specifically inspired to feature West after being struck by the confidence she exuded during an interview, having herself been very shy at that age.

She also released a video for the track that month. In March 2025, she featured on "Lonely Roads Still Go to Sunshine," a track Kanye uploaded to Twitter that featured Jasmine Williams, King Combs, and the latter's father Sean Combs; the involvement of the last of these prompted Justin Curto of Vulture to describe the track as "one of the most problematic songs you could imagine," as Diddy had been imprisoned on federal sex-crime charges. Caitlin Moran of The Times described the collaboration as "in no way a useful career step for her" and criticised Kanye for using it to "continue his demented psychological warfare against his ex-wife — at the expense of their child."

Commercial Ventures and Public Scrutiny

By February 2024, a TikTok account North shared with her mother had accrued 18.3 million followers. In March 2023, Kim applied for several trademarks in North's name. In October 2023, by which time she had accompanied her mother to multiple events in Los Angeles and abroad, she gave a solo interview to i-D, in which she expressed several of her hopes and dreams. West previewed her first solo single at Kanye's Mexico City performance on January 30, 2026, titled "Piercing on My Hand" under the label Gamma, who had also signed Kanye in time for his upcoming album Bully. The track later appeared on streaming on February 5 that same year. West released her debut EP, N0rth4evr on May 1, 2026, through Gamma. She was scheduled to embark on her debut "Kimokawaii Tour" with fellow musician Molly Santana in August 2026, though the tour was ultimately cancelled for unknown reasons.