CULTURE

Blue Ivy Has Entered the Singer-Songwriter Phase of Her Career

At just seven years old, Blue Ivy already has a songwriting credit for “Brown Skin Girl” on Beyoncé’s soundtrack for The Lion King.

by Brooke Marine

The World Premiere Of Disney's "THE LION KING"
Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images

If you thought Blue Ivy Carter’s appearance in one of her mom’s music videos the other day was enough to set Twitter ablaze, then you might want to think again.

As it turns out, Blue Ivy is the latest celebrity child to move into the “creative director” space. North West directed a music video earlier this year, and even Asahd Khaled has a producing credit for one of his dad’s albums (he was just four months old when he hit that milestone). Seven-year-old Blue Ivy now joins their ranks as she has now received her first official writing credit for her contributions to one of her mom’s songs, and a composing credit too.

Beyoncé has just released her second album of the year, The Lion King: The Gift, and a gift it is indeed. The album is part of her Disney press tour for The Lion King, and while it features a handful of popular musicians, from Tierra Whack and Childish Gambino to Burna Boy and Kendrick Lamar, it is Blue Ivy’s feature on a track called “Brown Skin Girl” on the compilation album inspired by the film that stands out. Blue Ivy opens up the track with SAINt JHN to sing her part of an ode to women of African descent, from Naomi Campbell to Lupita Nyong’o. She then closes the track all on her own.

It’s unclear exactly how much of the track was written or composed by Blue Ivy, but when you think about it, she is already an old pro when it comes to lending vocals to tracks recorded by her parents. In 2013, she gave some vocals for “Blue” on her mother’s surprise self-titled album. Five years later, she proved she had bars when she rapped on a 4:44 bonus track called “Blue’s Freestyle/We Family.” Now, she’s out here giving us life-affirming vocals and stunting on her own mother. We’re waiting patiently to see what her siblings, Sir and Rumi, do next.

Related: Blue Ivy Steals The Show In Beyoncé’s “Spirit” Music Video