The rollout for FKA Twigs’ forthcoming album EUSEXUA continues to dazzle and amaze, leaving queer fans in hot anticipation for the full drop tomorrow, January 24th.
But there’s one aspect of the album that fans are scratching their heads at: a feature co-written by and featuring vocals from North West.
So what’s the controversy? Well, it’s complicated. For one thing, North West is 11 years old and is already making moves in the music industry—but folks concerned about North’s age are worried that it might be too soon for her to be entering the recording studio to sing rave anthems.
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As someone who’s been in the limelight literally since birth, and who deserves to have her childhood protected, North is definitely particularly vulnerable here. That said, if this is something she wants to do, why not let her do it?
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If there’s any controversy here, the weight of it falls much more squarely on North’s parents (Ye adn Kim Kardashian’s) shoulders than those of FKA Twigs. Kids of extremely famous parents, like North West and Blue Ivy, are somewhat expected to take on and continue their parents’ musical legacy from a young age, but in an era when we’re looking more closely at the harm caused by the child star industrial complex, seeing someone thrust into the recording booth at 11 years old brings up questions and concerns.
There’s another problem: North West appearing on this track means that she’s now going to be scrutinized and judged as an artist in her own right…at age 11.
We’ll just have to see how this fits into the rest of the EUSEXUA ethos when the album drops tomorrow.
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