Baby Queen

Arabella Latham (born 19 August 1997), known professionally as Baby Queen, is a South African singer based in London.

She arrived in London in 2015 with around 40 demo CDs which she had written during her teenage years in South Africa.

It was after what she describes as a "horrific night in East London" following a break-up in 2017 that Latham would write "the first ever Baby Queen song", the stream-of-consciousness style "Raw Thoughts".

The song allegedly took only 20 minutes to write and would set the precedent for Latham's self-proclaimed lyrical openness and "uncomfortably honest" attitude towards the topics of drug use and mental health.

Latham admits to having unrealistic expectations about the ease of getting a record deal in London, a city with a much more flourishing music industry than her South-African hometown.

She recounts her initial plans of "making it" by knocking on music labels' doors with her mixtapes.

Despite initial setbacks, Latham would continue writing songs while working at Rough Trade East record shop in Brick Lane, London.

The first song written for the Baby Queen project, "Raw Thoughts" was composed following a breakup in 2017.

The first track to be written for the EP was "Buzzkill", which was completed in 2018.

She worked at Rough Trade from 2019 until 2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Latham recalls jotting down lyrics on post-it notes during her shifts, collating them in what became known as "Bella's Wall" in the staff room.

Latham also worked as a waitress at the Brit Awards, hoping erroneously to network with the attending celebrities.

From 2019 onwards, Latham continued writing songs while working at Rough Trade East.

The remaining tracks were allegedly written between late 2019 and early 2020, which resulted in much of the EP's production happening remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Born and raised in Durban, South Africa, she moved to London at 18 to pursue a career in music and signed a recording contract with Polydor Records in 2020.

Her first EP, Medicine, was released in November 2020, followed by her debut mixtape, The Yearbook, in September 2021.

She made the long list for the Radio 1 Sound of 2022.

Her debut studio album, Quarter Life Crisis, was released in November 2023.

Latham was born and brought up in Durban, South Africa.

Her father owns an art supply company, while also operating a small art gallery located above this shop.

Latham claims her upbringing in South Africa has contributed to her confident personality and the loudness of her Baby Queen persona.

At 18, with her parents' blessing, Latham emigrated to London in order to pursue her music career.

Initially living with her aunt in Fulham, Latham would move out and become immersed in the city's nightlife.

During this time, Latham claims to have developed issues with substance abuse, using drugs to counteract her depression.

It would take six years living in London before Latham would sign to Polydor Records over Zoom in 2020.

Latham discovered her song-writing abilities by the age of 11 or 12.

In early 2020, amidst lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, she left Rough Trade and signed to Polydor Records.

After signing to record label Polydor, Latham's first EP, Medicine, was released on 11 November 2020.

Latham claims that she co-wrote "Pretty Girl Lie" with her producer over Zoom in 2020, and that the vocals for "Medicine, "Want Me" and "Online Dating" were all recorded in a makeshift studio in her bedroom due to lockdown.

The songs "Internet Religion", "Buzzkill", "Pretty Girl Lie", "Want Me" and the title track "Medicine" were promoted as singles.

Each track was accompanied by an official music video and lyric video released on YouTube in the months leading up to Medicine's release.

The only remaining non-single on the EP, "Online Dating" received a hybrid lyric and music video entitled "Online Dating (Baby Kingdom)" on 11 November, the day of the EP's release.

"Baby Kingdom" is the term given to Latham's fans.

During the promotion of Medicine, Latham also periodically uploaded covers to her YouTube channel.

Songs covered during this time period include "I Don't Want To Get Over You" by The Magnetic Fields, "Mirrorball" by Taylor Swift and "Halloween" by Phoebe Bridgers.

On 1 December 2020, Latham released a cover of the classic Christmas carol "Santa Baby".

Latham was inspired to cover a Christmas song by the childhood memory of her dad's Christmas mixtape, and she explains her choice of "Santa Baby" by the fact that it's "cheeky and satirical lyrics" align with the rest of her discography and persona.

The single was not attached to an album and received minimal promotion, with no music or lyric video.

Latham's debut mixtape, The Yearbook, was released on 3 September 2021.

The songs "Raw Thoughts", "These Drugs", "Dover Beach", "American Dream", featuring Australian singer-songwriter May-a, and "You Shaped Hole" were promoted as singles leading up to The Yearbook's release.