North West Slammed As 'Talentless' Following First Ever Solo Music Festival Set

North West was met with a torrent of online abuse after her first-ever solo music festival set in Chicago on Friday 12 June, as the 13-year-old daughter of Kim Kardashian and Kanye West took the stage at Lyrical Lemonade's Summer Smash 2026 to perform tracks from her debut EP, 'N0rth4evr.'

North West has been edging into the public eye as a performer over the past year, aided by her parents' vast platforms and a built-in audience that most new artists can only dream of. Her appearance at Summer Smash marked the first time she performed alone at a major festival rather than as a guest during one of her father's shows, a shift that has clearly divided audiences who are still working out how to treat a teenager who is both a child and a celebrity brand in her own right.

On stage, North leaned fully into a high-fashion, high-drama persona. Dressed head to toe in black Balenciaga, she wore an oversized long-sleeve shirt over a ruffled skirt, stacked studded bracelets on both wrists and hid much of her face behind large sunglasses. The most striking detail was an electric blue wig, styled into two long pigtails that swung almost to her knees as she moved around the stage.

Footage from the night shows her rapping to a tightly packed, visibly energetic crowd as she ran through songs from 'N0rth4evr,' including her track 'TALKING.' The performance, however, did not just live in the moment. Within hours, clips spread across X and Instagram, triggering yet another round of debate about the Kardashian–West children growing up with millions of strangers as unsolicited critics.

North West Performance Sparks Fierce Online Backlash

The reaction to North West's festival set was immediate and unusually harsh, even by the standards of celebrity culture. While some social media users praised her confidence, the loudest voices were often the most unforgiving, with critics zeroing in on everything from her age to her perceived lack of artistry.

'Because nothing says "childhood" like instant global fame, blue wigs, and the internet turning your first performance into a worldwide headline frenzy,' one user wrote on X, summing up a broader unease about seeing a 13-year-old framed as a commercial act. Another called the set 'an embarrassment,' adding: 'She's only 12 years old, too, and allowed to act like this.' The age is off by a year, but the sentiment reflects how little patience some viewers are willing to extend to the teenager.

A third critic was blunter still, dismissing her outright as 'talentless.' 'Great. More talentless music forced upon us by the music industry,' they wrote. 'For every 1 band forced upon the people, there are 10 better bands ignored by the music industry.'

The complaint is familiar: a sense that North is being fast-tracked past the usual grind of small venues and local gigs because of her surname, while other artists are left behind. It is not a new argument, but it lands differently when the target is barely a teenager, performing at a festival where most acts are seasoned adults.

None of the online criticism has been addressed publicly by North herself. There is also no independent assessment of her live vocals or technical ability beyond short fan-shot clips, so sweeping judgments about her musical talent are, at this stage, just that: opinions. Nothing is confirmed yet in terms of how the industry will receive her long term, so all claims about her future as an artist should be taken with a grain of salt.

Kim Kardashian and Kanye West Rally Behind North West

If the internet was unforgiving, North's parents were the opposite. Kardashian, 45, documented the night like a proud backstage mum with a media empire. On Instagram, she showed off laminated passes bearing North's face and shared a video as her eldest daughter arrived at the venue.

'North West just arrived at her first ever festival performance,' she wrote over one clip, positioning the appearance as a milestone rather than a marketing exercise. Her posts were less about critics and more about memorialising a first: the first solo set, the first time North's name appeared on a festival line-up without her father's.

Kanye West, 49, lent his own stamp of approval the following morning, reposting footage of the set on his Instagram Stories. 'The crowd was jumping for North West at Summer Smash when she played TALKING,' read the caption on one shared video, which showed the teenager working the stage as audience members bounced and shouted back lyrics.

Their support is hardly surprising. Both Kim and Kanye have spent years curating their children's images in public, whether on reality television, social platforms or in carefully controlled press moments. Still, their backing underlines the gap between how the performance is being framed inside the family and how it is received among strangers scrolling from afar.

Just days after the show, North West crossed another threshold. She turned 13 on 15 June, with Kim posting a lengthy tribute that reminded followers that behind the festival passes and Balenciaga styling there is still a teenager grappling with adolescence in front of millions.

'Happy Birthday my Northiiiiiieeeeeeeee (Uzi voice!!!)🩵 I can't believe you are officially a teenager!!!!!' Kim wrote beneath a carousel of personal photos. 'There's no one like you my baby girl! I love being your mom and watching you grow. I love you to the aliens galaxies you would speak of as a kid and beyond. 🖤👽🛸🩵💙.'

It is an oddly tender counterpoint to the noise surrounding North West this week. For her parents, the festival is a proud beginning. For much of the internet, it is another flashpoint in a long-running argument about fame, privilege and how young is too young to be pushed under the spotlight.