Kim Kardashian supports North West’s entertainment ambitions while trying to control how quickly her 13-year-old daughter takes on new opportunities.
In a new Sunday Times Style interview, Kardashian said she worries about raising children inside an unusually public family and adjusts her approach according to what each of them wants. North, she explained, actively seeks the kind of work that puts her in front of audiences.
“North loves it a little bit more than the rest,” Kardashian said. “I hold her back. All she wants to do is forward-facing projects.” Instead of accepting every offer, Kardashian said she wants to preserve some milestones and manage North’s opportunities carefully.
North has expressed a very different sense of urgency. In her September Dazed cover interview, she called advice to “start my career later” the worst she had received and said music is what she wants to do with her life.
Kim Says North Wants More Public-Facing Work Than Her Siblings
Kardashian shares North, Saint, Chicago and Psalm with Ye, formerly Kanye West. All four have grown up around television crews, photographers and the family’s enormous public profile, but Kardashian says their comfort with that exposure varies.
“Each kid does what they’re comfortable with,” she told The Sunday Times Style. Kardashian said her younger children sometimes appear around filming for The Kardashians while largely staying outside the show’s storylines. E! News separately reported her comments about North’s stronger interest in being visible.
For North, that interest increasingly centers on music. She now has a solo project, music videos, festival performances, a headline concert and a major magazine cover under her own name.
North Released Her First EP and Planned a 14-Date Tour
North released her debut EP, N0rth4evr, on May 1 through North West/gamma. Apple Music lists six tracks on the 11-minute project, which moves across hip-hop, rock and electronic influences.
The EP also gave North a visual campaign of her own. An official video for “#N0rth4evr” accompanied the release, while Complex described the project as combining metal guitar riffs, Auto-Tune and punk-inflected rap.
Live performances quickly followed. In her Dazed interview, North discussed making her first solo music-festival appearance at Summer Smash in June and said she already felt prepared for the milestone. “I wish I’d done it earlier, though,” she said. “I’ve been ready.”
Her next announced step was much larger. North and rapper Molly Santana unveiled the 14-date Kimokawaii Tour in June, with an August 5 opening planned in Dallas. Complex reported that all 14 dates were canceled shortly before the run began. North later confirmed that the tour was off and told followers she had something else planned.
Her First Solo Headlining Show Came a Month Later
Ye and Kim Kardashian at North West’s first-ever headlining show in Chicago https://t.co/Vq3uQJ6Gih
— Modern Notoriety (@ModernNotoriety) September 6, 2026
The canceled tour delayed North’s first extended headline run, but she reached another milestone on September 5 at Chicago’s Vic Theatre.
XXL reported that the 13-year-old performed her first solo headlining show there with both Kardashian and Ye watching from separate areas of the venue. Her set included songs from N0rth4evr and earlier features such as “Talking,” her collaboration with Ye and Ty Dolla $ign.
Both parents documented the performance on social media. XXL reported that Ye shared footage with the message “SO PROUD,” while Kardashian also filmed and cheered from the audience. North’s own reaction was even more direct. After thanking fans for attending, she wrote, “This is what I’m meant to do.”
Kim Says She and Ye Are ‘Aligned’ on North’s Music
“And with her, since it’s more music-related, that is something that her dad and I have better communication about,” Kardashian said in the new interview, according to E! News. “We make sure that we’re aligned,” she added, “and that she’s in projects that we both approve.”
Ye’s influence has already been part of North’s musical development. Before N0rth4evr, she appeared on releases connected to her father, including “Talking” with Ye and Ty Dolla $ign, while her 2026 solo work increasingly established a catalogue released under her own name.
North Says Music Is What She Wants to Do With Her Life
Asked to describe an ideal day, she chose rehearsal followed by studio time or a major performance. She also said she had become increasingly interested in rehearsing every day after previously preferring to go onstage and see what happened.
Then came the question about the worst advice she had received. “To start my career later,” North answered. “It’s like, nah, this is my hobby, this is what I like to do, this is what I wanna do with my life.”
Her ambitions still include experiences far removed from a music-industry schedule. When Dazed asked what she might pursue outside being an artist, North said she wanted to work at Starbucks after turning 14 because she would like to experience having a regular job.