Expected or Exploited: Blue Ivy is the Internet’s New Favourite Rapper

With parents like JAY-Z and Beyoncé, we always knew Blue Ivy would have some seriously blessed musical genes. Now, we have proof.

A recording of the 5-year-old scion free-styling on JAY-Z’s 4:44 was leaked last night, and the Internet is already calling Blue Ivy the new princess of rap.

In the physical album’s exclusive track titled “Blue’s Freestyle / We Family,” Blue Ivy spits some serious bars: “Everything, everything is my only single thing / Everything I hear is my answer…I never hear that / I be in the posse / Never seen a ceiling in my whole life.”

The 45-second rap continues into *mostly* rhythmic mumbles, but fans have deciphered the freestyle refrain: “Boom shakalaka / Boom shakalaka / Everything in shaka / Everything in faka.”

But need us to remind you that this is not the first time Blue has made an appearance in her parents’ music. (She made her musical debut in JAY-Z’s 2012 “Glory,” and she was in Beyoncé 2014 song “Blue.”) However, although fans finally got a real taste of Blue Ivy’s talent with “Blue’s Freestyle,” not everyone is impressed with the younger’s rapid rise to music industry fame.

Just look at the headline buzz her 45-second rap has created. The people love it. Because hey, it’s not like JAY-Z and Beyoncé are the only celebrity parents exploiting their non-consenting child for public praise and financial gain in their music. Mariah Carey’s did it; Whitney Houston’s did it; Eminem did it.

And the exploitation goes far beyond a couple lines in a song: Celebrities are overexposed, and so are their children. In 2006, People magazine paid $4.1 million for the Shiloh Jolie-Pitt baby photos. At just 8-months old, Asahd Khaled has 1.1 million Instagram followers and an executive producer credit on a platinum album. Kim Kardashian flaunts North West front row at Fashion Week  like she’s some kind of couture accessory.

Parents want to share their lives with their children, and to share their children with the people in their lives. But where do we draw the line between personal sharing and brand management? Everything on social media is curated, but the game changes when we stating using our public personas (and those of our children) for personal profit.

Whether the lyric was coerced or original, Blue’s “Never seen a ceiling in my whole life,” line tells it like it is. Blue Ivy has no boundaries; the sky is her limit. As long as she’s happy, we’re happy.

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