Source: Kevin Mazur / Getty
Jay-Z couldn’t be prouder of Blue Ivy’s confidence during the Renaissance tour.
The rapper said seeing his eldest daughter dancing to “My Power” on Beyoncé’s 2023 world tour gave him “goosebumps.” He told Gayle King during a recently published interview for CBS Mornings that Blue’s Renaissance performances were more sentimental than the public could imagine. Jay-Z — who shares three children with Beyoncé — noted that Blue’s performances were powerful because of all the public criticism she faced when she was younger.
“She’s been born into a life she didn’t ask for. So since she was born, she’s [faced] scrutiny and the public eye and everyone having an opinion of even a little girl — how she keeps her hair,” the Brooklyn native explained. “So for her to be on that stage and reclaim her power — and the song is called ‘My Power’ — you can’t write a better script.”
The proud dad also spoke about how nervous his talented progeny was when she decided she wanted to perform on her mother’s tour. Jay-Z also revealed that Blue worked so hard that she had to ice her body while on Beyoncé’s Renaissance tour.
Despite only being 11, Blue Ivy has faced years of online vitriol about her features and hair.
In early 2020, a Black male and white female journalist nastily discussed the child’s features on social media. The Black male, K. Austin Collins, said he felt sorry for the child because she resembled her father.
Collins added that Blue might grow out of the “ugly duckling phase.”
The other writer, Violet Lucca, disturbingly said the child might get plastic surgery at 16 to change her features.
Rightfully so, both of the journalists’ public attacks on the young Black girl were met with disappointment and disdain from other netizens. Thankfully, many Black women rallied behind Blue and supported her and her beauty. The harmful and demoralizing conversation was one of many Blue’s been subjected to. For years, her hair has been called “nappy,” people questioned why Beyoncé didn’t get the child’s hair “done.” In 2014, an online petition was even created that condemned Blue’s hair and called for action to fix it.
It was disturbing to see how bothered people were by the toddler simply rocking the afro growing out of her head. The bashing became an intermittent online conversation as trolls refused to give Blue the right to simply be — textured hair and all.
The insidious hate reflected the multilayered conversation surrounding the internalized low esteem held for Black features and hair — so much so that it was projected onto the most vulnerable of our community, a child.
A piece recently published on MadameNoire tackled the increasing online conversation about “hair depression.” The term is one often used by young Black women who feel less than or unable to live their lives fully when their hair isn’t done.
The young Black women’s decreased self-confidence and feelings of unworthiness when their hair wasn’t done were prevalent in their online posts about hair depression.
In addition to the social pressures placed on Black women to look put together and kept at all times, hair discrimination seemingly also played a factor in hair depression’s prevalence.
Moreover, 2021 research found that 53% of Black mothers said their daughters experienced racial discrimination based on hairstyles as early as five years old.
While the research noted that hair discrimination is something many Black girls face from a young age, the heightened level of scrutiny Blue faced due to her famous parents was particularly unwarranted and wrong.
As proud father Jay-Z noted, having the ability to reclaim her public image and perform as an empowered young woman was probably as uplifting for Blue as it was for her whole adoring family.
We loved seeing Blue dancing on stage and hope she continues her light with the world confidently. Read more about the celebrity tween below.
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