North West plays first solo show at Summer Smash, drawing mix of curious onlookers and true fans

On opening day of the Lyrical Lemonade Summer Smash, festivalgoers faced a dilemma.

Should they go see veteran Chicago rapper G Herbo on the main stage, or watch an overlapping performance by North West, the oldest child of Kim Kardashian and Ye, formerly Kanye West?

The decision wasn’t as clear-cut as you might guess, and some weren’t afraid to admit it.

“I want to see it,” Hazel Crest native Aaron Crawford, 23, said of North West’s set. “Low-key, I might have to go back and forth.”

Curiosity was at a high point among the audience for North at Bridgeview’s SeatGeek Stadium, which drew 50,000 attendees on Friday for its largest, single-day crowd, according to organizers. Lenny’s Tent Stage was packed, as some who came to her set were curious about her music — and whether she’d bring out Ye. Some expressed a baseline of respect for her new EP, “N0rth4evr,” a project of rage rap, emo and hyperpop that had mixed but generally positive reviews. And others were true fans of her songs and Goth-inspired fashion, and dismissed the naysayers.

“She’s very cute,” said Ana Stone, 20, of Texas, who snagged a place in the front row. “I see a lot of bad comments about her. They think that she’s being a poser, but she’s literally a child.”

Just three days shy of her 13th birthday, the rapper, singer and producer ran onto the stage and delivered her first-ever solo festival set — and Chicago debut — with confidence and style.

“How am I younger than you, but I’m who you look up to?” she rapped while performing “D!e.”

Her background was a sparse set of Gothic-style gates that wouldn’t be out of place at an old cemetery. She sported sunglasses, a Balenciaga shirt, matching skirt, spiked jewelry, piercings on her hands, a black grill and her signature blue hair.

“Copyin’ my hair, I’m ‘bout to trademark the teal,” she rapped, with a flip of her tresses, during “H0w Sh0uld ! f33l.”

North worked the stage, walking around, dancing and occasionally switching microphone setups. But, at times, her vocals were buried too low in the mix. And with the exception of a couple of brief comments, her interaction with the audience — ranging from teens to those in their early 20s —was minimal during the 15-minute set. She appeared to be having fun, though.

Despite the chants of “We want Ye!” ahead of the show, neither North’s father, who grew up in Chicago, nor her mother, were present. She did bring out Lil Wayne’s 16-year-old son, Lil Novi, to perform their collaboration, “Mula tha Root of All Evil,” featuring braggadocious lyrics and North’s lively production.

“It’s Yeezy and Weezy, we be where the racks be,” North rapped.

That subject matter is prevalent on North’s EP, which expresses three main messages: She has too much money, too many haters and can’t trust anyone. And some of the lyrics take on a darker edge.

“Know my mind’s in a place that is not safe,” she raps on “#N0rth4evr.”

“So much people ’round me, but I know they all fake.”

It may just be a fictional story written to fit her emo style, but given her level of fame, it’s not a far-fetched reality. But some aren’t buying it.

“People think her lyrics are corny,” said Brianna Perkins, 15, of Aurora. “I think she’s a cool artist. I think what she’s doing at her age is really cool.”

Indeed, North is in a unique lane as a child rapper in the mainstream. Unlike young emcees of the past, her songs aren’t about puppy love. And while she has faced criticism for some “mature” fashion choices, her lyrics have yet to be dissected in conversations about the sexualization of female artists. Her music also has a heavy Asian influence, as she samples Japanese artists and songs, raps in Japanese (on “Childlike Things,” a collaboration with FKA Twigs on her 2025 album “Eusexua”) and name-checks Hatsune Miku, the blue-haired mascot for Vocaloid voice software.

Her infectious producer tag, an audio signature usually played at the beginning of a track, is “North-Chan” in Japanese.

But North hasn’t yet amassed a large, passionate, blue-haired fan base. (The writer of this article mistakenly assumed two aquamarine-haired festival-goers were North fans, only to be met with puzzled looks.) The crowd did jump up and down and scream the lyrics at one point, but it was during “Talking,” one of her songs with her father, who she did not mention during her set.

“She’s a nepo baby,” said Cole Biggers, 18, of Washington, D.C., following her set. “But I’m not trying to spread hate, and her music’s decent. I liked the set design.”

Biggers also said he wanted more crowd interaction, but chalked it up to North’s age and inexperience.

“I thought it was really good,” said Makenna Sebastian, 18, of Michigan. “I like the type of crowd she brings — hype and lit.”