North West Previews Rap Collaboration With Dad Ye: ‘I Want More Piercings & Tats’

Trending on Billboard From her “these are clothes” freestyle to her Molly Santana-inspired outfits, North West has steadily emerged as one of Gen Alpha’s leading voices across music, fashion and culture. In the wee hours of Friday morning (Jan. 16), the 12-year-old daughter of Ye (formerly Kanye West) and Kim Kardashian previewed an eyebrow-raising collaboration with her 24-time Grammy-winning dad. “Piercing on my hand, the other holding bands,” North spits in the snippet, which she posted to her Instagram Stories with the text “Piercing on my hand @ye version” written on the post. “No friends, just filter, you wouldn’t understand.” “Went to school for two days, then I got banned/ Skipping school, yeah, I do it on the daily,” she continues across a beat heavily influenced by the rage rap that frequently soundtracks her social media posts. “Got some new rings, yeah, they’re so crazy.” “All my friends are hits, you know I’m not lazy/ You’re so angry that I’m so mainstream,” she sneers near the end of the snippet. “I’m not sure I’m crazy/ I want more piercings and tats/ I love blue hair, put it in some plaits/ Put the music to the max/ I want like a hundred thousand racks.” Throughout the teaser, North proves she can shift between flows and ride a particularly frenetic beat, showing that she truly is Ye’s daughter. The eldest West child - she’s big sister to Saint, Chicago and Psalm - kicked off 2026 with some interesting finger piercings, just days after debuting a temporary bridge piercing, black grills and a diamond skull pendant in a series of TikTok posts . Coupled with her bright blue plaits, the pre-teen has been thrust into a sprawling online debate regarding the ethics of age and piercings. Her latest musical offerings follow a busy 2025, which included several notable collaborations. Last January, she joined FKA twigs for the Eusexua standout “Childlike Things,” on which she performed in Japanese. A few months later, North contributed to “Lonely Roads,” a Ye-produced track from King Combs’ Never Stop EP that also featured rising artist Jaas. Just last week, North shared that she produced “Justswagup,” a new collaboration between rappers Mag!c and Lil Novi, the latter of whom happens to be Lil Wayne’s son. Though still a tween, she’s already a Billboard Hot 100 -charting artist: She guested on Ye and Ty Dolla $ign’s “Talking,” which hit No. 30 in 2024.

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