Northwest to hold first solo music festival at Summer Smash 2026

North West has reached a new milestone in his budding musical career by performing his first solo set at a music festival.

On Friday (June 12), Ye (ex-Kanye West) and Kim Kardashian’s 12-year-old daughter took to the stage at Lyrical Lemonade’s Summer Smash 2026 in Chicago.

Wearing a black Balenciaga ensemble, dark sunglasses, pointy jewelry, and long blue pigtails, North performed her 2024 collaboration with Ye, “TALKING,” from her album Vultures 1.

The young rapper and producer’s proud parents celebrated the moment on social media. Ye reposted a clip from the evening’s performance on her Instagram Story.

“The crowd jumped for North West when she performed ‘TALKING’ at Summer Smash,” reads the caption for a video of North performing the song to an energetic festival crowd.

Kardashian also gave an inside look at Summer Smash 2026, sharing a photo of her backstage pass with North’s face on her Instagram Stories. The SKIMS founder posted a clip of his daughter running onto the festival stage, writing above the video, “Northwest just arrived at her first festival performance.”

North’s debut solo music festival performance follows his debut EP, N0rth4evr, which was released in early May.

She previously tested the boundaries of music and made waves with her appearances on Yeh and Ty Dolla $ign’s Vultures and FKA Twigs’ EUSEXUA album. North released the single “Piercing on My Hand” in February and appeared at Ye’s SoFi Stadium show in Los Angeles in April.

Lyrical Lemonade’s Summer Smash 2026 features Lil Uzi Vert, Playboi Carti, and Baby Keem as headliners for the three-night event. The festival will be held from June 12th to 14th at SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview, Illinois.